Mar 30, 2009 12:35 am US/Eastern
Zach Thomas' Wife Claims Police Mistreatment
The wife of a former Miami Dolphin has spoken up about an incident she had with a Dallas police officer who made headlines last week after he detained Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats as he was rushing to see his mother-in-law.
Maritza Thomas, wife of former linebacker Zach Thomas, said she was pulled over by Dallas police officer Robert Powell last July after she made an illegal U-turn.
Thomas said during the stop, Powell cited her for failure to show proof of insurance, having an improper address on a driver's license, not having a registration sticker on the windshield, running a red light and making the illegal U-turn. She said she tried to explain to Powell that her insurance and other paperwork were in her apartment which was about five minutes away from where they were, but he refused to listen. Thomas said she was handcuffed and taken to jail.
Four of the charges were eventually dropped and Thomas accepted deferred adjudication for the illegal U-turn charge.
"This situation never should've happened," Thomas' attorney, Brody Shanklin, told The Dallas News. "Unless extraordinary circumstances exist, no person should be arrested for a Class C citation. In this case, it was an example of Officer Powell being overzealous and exerting his authority in a manner that he never should have."
Not so, according to Bob Gorsky who represents Powell.
"I do understand that an arrest on multiple traffic charges happens often and is absolutely proper under these circumstances," Gorsky said. "Often, when there are multiple charges, an arrest made and bond posted, some of the charges from a single event are later dropped."
After the arrest, Thomas said she and her husband considered filing a complaint against Powell but declined because they didn't want to make 'a scene'. However, they plan to file one now.
Last week Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle apologized to the Moats family for the March 18th incident in which Powell detained Moats in the hospital parking lot after he had allegedly run a red light.
When Moats tried to explain that his mother-in-law was upstairs dying, Powell continued to detain him. According to Powell's patrol car dash cam, at one point the officer pulled his gun on Moats.
As Moats continued to try and explain the situation Powell can be heard on the video tape saying "I can screw you over." When another officer came with word that Moats' mother-in-law was indeed dying, Powell's response was: "All right. I'm almost done."
After a doctor and nurse finally intervened and explained to Powell that Moats' mother-in-law was truly dying, he was released. By the time he made it to her bedside, she had died.
Powell has been placed on paid leave pending an internal investigation.
Source: Dallas News
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