The Pearland Police Department has released dash cam video from a traffic stop involving former Houston Oilers player Lamar Lathon. The video shows a different point of view and proves that Lathon’s initial accusations about the officer who stopped him were false.
The police union in Pearland is demanding an apology from the former NFL Pro Bowler saying its officers did everything by the book.
During the tense traffic stop on Sept. 1, police say the officer was not out of control or out of line despite Lathon’s claim that he “pointed a gun at me for no reason.”
The officer pulled Lathon over for driving 65 mph in a 50 mph zone. During the confrontation in a gas station parking lot, the police officer asks Lathon, several times not to reach under his seat as he takes his weapon out of its holster. After asking Lathon several more times not to reach under his seat, he puts the weapon back.
Reaching underneath his seat for his driver’s license, Lathon told local reporters he was obeying a command and it quickly got out of control.
After going back to his cruiser, the officer returns and asks Lathon to step out of his vehicle. Another officer is seen searching the car, but nothing is found. In the video, Lathon is heard saying “you don’t have permission to check my car, I don’t have a gun.”
The police union says Lathon’s statements following the traffic stop were “inaccurate, inflammatory and a mischaracterization.” The former linebacker said he ‘feared for his life’ during the incident and said the police officer pointed the gun in his face, according to KHOU.
Based on Lathon’s previous driving history, the officer issued him a ticket.
The Pearland Police Officer’s Association said this was not a perception issue but an outright lie, and has asked for Lathon to apologize for his initial accusations. As a public figure, the police association says Lathon should have acted more responsibly, especially in this climate we’re now living in — where law enforcement is under attack in communities nationwide.
The Police Department issued a statement which said in part: “the response of the officers involved in this traffic stop was professional and within both the law and policies of this agency.”
Just another Pro Bowl Athlete who is support to be mentoring what they can grow up to be. He out to take some of his unearned money and buy some common sense.