Charges Dropped For Man In Controversial Arrest Made By Plano Police Officers
PLANO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Charges have been dropped for a man in an arrest last week that sparked backlash toward the Plano Police Department.
The incident involved an unidentified man who told officers he was walking home as they approached him on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at around 10:45 p.m. The arrest was captured on body camera and released to the public on Friday.
Police said they were responding to a welfare check from a caller who said the man was walking in the middle of Hedgcoxe Road wearing a short-sleeved shirt. Police said the man was wearing a t-shirt and pants while temperatures were in the teens and snow and ice were on the ground.
The video showed the man walking away from officers as he continually told them he didn't need help and refused to answer questions. Police said officers kept following him and asking if he wanted a ride because they were "concerned for his welfare and the possibility of the subject being in a mental crisis, delusional, or impaired..."
In the video, officers followed the man on the street, on a sidewalk and eventually into an alleyway, where they detained him. The video also showed him resisting, but he was soon in handcuffs without further incident.
Police said he was taken to Plano City Jail and was initially charged with pedestrian in a roadway, but all charges have since been dropped.
The incident led to backlash toward the department as many were wondering why officers couldn't leave him alone. Many on social media described the arrest as "shameful" and "embarrassing."
Plano police spokesperson David Tilley told CBS 11 News if the officers had left him alone and then something happened to him, such as falling on ice and freezing to death, the officers would have been liable. He added the officers had authority to detain the man because he was walking in the middle of the street.
