Officer Scott Harrell of Texas City police detained Christopher Shull for "disregarding a traffic control device" in April, but it was for manoevers in the privately-owned parking lot of a gas station. When Shull argued, correctly, that that was not how any of this works, Harrell arrested, handcuffed and detained him–and has now been placed on leave after Shull threatened a lawsuit. The video is, as one commenter describes, an example of the sunk cost fallacy, as the angry cop keeps doubling down on a mistake rather than fixing it–a mistake that could cost the city (and its taxpayers) dearly.
"You were very close! They had to slam on their brakes, I watched it happen … ok you came flying through the parking lot," Harrell said to Shull, while Shull sat handcuffed in the back of his police cruiser. But in the new surveillance video obtained by KPRC 2 News, the white truck appears to brake while exiting the gas pumps, then the brake lights appear to go off before completing a left turn and finally crossing paths with Shull."Everything he said was a lie and it really just boils down to, he wanted to use his police powers to bash me over the head," Shull said. … Shull has retained San Antonio-based civil rights attorney Brandon Grable, who told KPRC 2 Shull never should have been detained."An officer appeared to have a poor lapse of judgment and once he realized he was too far in to the stop, he felt like he had to go all the way," Grable said.
Here's the police chief's statement, apparently issued after weeks of ignoring Shull's lawyer.
The Texas City Police Department has strict policies prohibiting officers from violating individuals' rights with whom the officers' encounter. These strict policies are underscored in the City's and the Texas City Police Department's policies, training and practices. …
In this situation, involving Officer Scott Harrell I reviewed his conduct and actions and as a result I have ordered the incident to be investigated by the Office of Professional Standards. The investigation will be an Internal Affairs investigation that could lead to possible criminal charges.
This citizen encounter is still under investigation and this written statement is based on the details we know at this point. We are committed to being transparent with our community, and it's our intention to release the results of the investigation as soon as a final disposition has been reached.
