Charges dropped, new video released in controversial Fort Worth arrest
DALLAS -- Bodycam video from a white Fort Worth police officer who was suspended for wrestling a black woman and her daughter to the ground appears to show the officer using his foot to push the 15-year-old girl into a police car.
The footage was provided to The Associated Press on Thursday from attorneys representing Jacqueline Craig, who called police last month to report that a neighbor choked her 7-year-old son for allegedly littering in his yard.
Also Thursday, Fort Worth police said they had dropped all charges against Craig and her 19-year-old daughter, Brea Hymond, who had recorded the interactions between Craig and Officer William Martin in a separate video they posted on Facebook in December. The police statement did not say whether charges had been dropped against Craig’s 15-year-old daughter, Jacques Craig.
The daughters were charged with resisting arrest and interfering with public duties. Jacqueline Craig was charged with resisting arrest, failure to identify herself as a fugitive and three outstanding traffic warrants.
The AP doesn’t typically identify juveniles accused of crimes, but the family and the teen have spoken out publicly several times since the confrontation.
Police also said Thursday that the neighbor, Itamar Vardi, has been issued a citation for assault related to his initial contact with Craig’s son.
A message seeking comment from Craig’s attorneys was not immediately returned, but they planned to hold a news conference later Thursday.
The bodycam footage provided by Craig’s attorneys also depicts Martin pushing Hymond’s arms, which were handcuffed, above her head from behind when she refuses to answer his question. It also shows him pushing another young female who approaches the police car. Those two incidents along with the use of his foot to push the 15-year-old into the police car were cited in a letter from Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald to the city’s Civil Service Commission explaining the finding that Martin had used excessive force in the situation and asking for his suspension.
The Fort Worth Police Department has denied media requests to release Martin’s bodycam footage. A department spokeswoman said she could not authenticate the video and that the department had not released it. But the audio of the bodycam video, reviewed by The Associated Press, matches the audio of the Facebook video posted by Craig’s family.
Martin served a 10-day suspension and has since returned to work. He is appealing his suspension with the city’s Civil Service Commission. Fitzgerald’s report also said Martin violated department policy by failing to thoroughly investigate, neglecting his duty, and being discourteous to the public and conduct prejudicial to good order.
The video also shows Martin’s conversation with Craig and one of her daughters after he places them in the back of a patrol vehicle.
“Here’s the deal. When somebody’s under arrest, if anybody interferes, they go to jail too,” Martin told them.
“Well, I don’t know this. I’m 15 years old,” Craig’s daughter replied.
Craig responds: “He got mad at me for saying what I said. That’s why he did it. But it’s all recorded, it’s all recorded.”
Fitzgerald said earlier this month that he planned to return Martin to the same neighborhood where the incident occurred “to repair relationships.” The release Thursday said Fitzgerald would not return him to patrol in the same community.
“The Police Department recognizes we must work to repair the fractured relationships in our community. We are committed to ensuring all Fort Worth Police officers live up to restoring the trust you have lost in our department,” the statement said.
Mayor Betsy Price issued a statement of support, saying she is, “committed to the restorative process needed to heal any breach of trust in our community.” Price and Fitzgerald held a joint news conference shortly after the incident, saying Martin’s actions were rude but not racist.