SAN ANTONIO - Dash board cameras in police cars often capture valuable evidence; but sometimes they fail to show the whole story. Like a recent confrontation between a Leon Valley police sergeant and a young woman who refused to get out of her car. Was it justifiable force or a case of cop rage? News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooter Jaie Avila got a hold of the exclusive video and we want to know what you think.
The video was shot from Sgt. Rudy Smith's patrol car as he responded to the busy underpass off Bandera Road and Loop 410, where a young couple's SUV had run out of gas.
The SUV was pushed onto the shoulder, but the back bumper was still sticking into the right hand lane.
On the video, you can see Sgt. Smith walk up to the driver's side. He apparently tells 20-year-old Shasta Berry her SUV is a traffic hazard and will have to be towed.
Berry tells the sergeant her fiancé has gone to get gas and should be back soon.
"He's like, 'You have until the tow truck gets here to move the car.' And I called my fiancé and told him this and he was like, 'I'm on my way, I'm on my way, I'm only a half mile away."
About ten minutes later the tow truck arrives. Sgt. Smith walks back to the SUV and asks Berry to step out. But she's worried about a big towing bill, and refuses.
"We were broke," says Berry. "It would have cost us an arm and a leg. I'm like, 'No sir, I'm not getting out of the car."
What happens next is mostly blocked by the SUV, but both Sgt. Smith and Shasta Berry say there was a violent struggle, as the sergeant tries to pull Berry out of the car, first by her arm, then by grabbing her head.
On the video you can see the SUV rock back and forth.
"So he opens the car, grabs my arm, pulls it back," describes Berry. "(He's) trying to get me out, but I would not budge. Then he lets go of my arm and I grab a hold of the wheel and he grabs my bun like I have it right now, as tight as he could, slams my head left, right, back and forth."
Having failed to pull Berry from behind the wheel, Sgt. Smith pulls out his taser and points it at her; which you can barely see through the SUV's tinted windows.
Berry tells him not to shoot, that she is pregnant. She wasn't, but Berry says she thought she was at the time. In any case, it convinces Sgt. Smith to put away the taser.
"That's excessive force! I mean, I could understand if they're doing a criminal act, but I wasn't doing anything criminal," says Berry. "I mean I was sitting there waiting for my fiancé to get me gas."
Minutes later, Berry's fiancé arrives with gas for the car, and the couple is allowed to leave.
The sergeant involved in this case was suspended for one day because he failed to write up a report about this incident, not because of his actions on the video tape, which the police chief says were appropriate for the situation.
We went to talk to Leon Valley Police Chief Randall Wallace.
He told us an investigation showed Berry was the aggressor that day, and that Sgt. Smith acted according to police policy. That's why he was only suspended for not reporting the incident.
"She was defiant initially," says Chief Wallace. "I think if she would have complied with the sergeant, we could have cleared Bandera Road, and none of this would have happened."
But I showed the chief the report written by his own investigator who looked at the tape. The investigator stated, "I have seen several violations, which took place. One of them is the fact that Sgt. Smith used force in an attempt to pull a motorist out of her vehicle and then threaten to use his stinger."
While he says the sergeant acted appropriately, Chief Wallace says he doesn't disagree with his investigator's conclusion about the use of force and taser violations. "I'm not disagreeing with the investigator's conclusion," says Chief Wallace. "I think my job is to get all of the facts and try to ascertain what happened."
Chief Wallace says he thinks Sgt. Smith looks relatively calm on the video. But his own investigator wrote that Smith should get counseling or be disciplined for the aggression shown that day.
We want to hear from you about this story. After watching the video, who do you think was out of line, the driver or the police sergeant? Post your comments below.
