by ANDY SEVILLA
A man who accused a Buda police officer of being “extremely aggressive” and racially profiling him in an arrest last year is due in a Hays County court next week.
Buda police alleage that Russell Carter, 45, of Austin, interfered with public duties during a traffic stop.
Carter was booked into the Hays County Jail March 6, 2012, and charged with interfering with public duties, a Class B misdemeanor, as well as with three Class C misdemeanors including no insurance, expired inspection and passing a stopped emergency vehicle.
The alleged interference with public duties is at the heart of this case. Police say Carter interfered with the officer’s duties, while Carter maintains that he simply refused to consent to a search of his car.
Buda Police Sergeant Brandon Hale, who investigated the racial profiling complaint against Officer Patrick Cheatham, said in his findings that Cheatham was towing Carter’s vehicle due to his lack of insurance. Hale said that, because of the towing, Cheatham would need to conduct an “inventory of the vehicle.”
Carter, however, said in his formal complaint to the Buda Police Department (BPD) that Cheatham requested to search his vehicle “due to my race – Black.”
“It is not uncommon for Officer Cheatham to tow vehicles for not having valid insurance,” Hale said. “... (And) an inventory of the vehicle is common operating procedure when a vehicle is impounded.”
The details behind this racial profiling complaint, filed last year, became public last week after the Buda’s city attorney released the documents to the Hays Free Press. Initially, Police Chief Bo Kidd said he did not think information regarding the case was public.
“Since your request regarding the racial profiling complaint involved matters related to a police officer and specific criminal offenses related to an individual, it was forwarded to the City Attorney to ensure that the City was legally authorized to release it under the (Texas Public Information) Act,” City Secretary David Batts said in an email. “After review, the City Attorney determined that the requested information was not subject to mandatory withholding under the Act, and the information was subsequently released to you.”
Information illustrating Cheatham’s citations for no insurance compared to how many vehicles he has requested to be towed for that offense was not provided by the city secretary’s office.
Batts said, “Buda does not track citations in this manner, and no document exists which specifically computes this statistic for the referenced citations. ”
An official with the Hays County Clerk’s office said April 11 that the District Attorney’s Office has not yet decided whether or not to prosecute the case, but records show Carter is due in court on April 25.
According to reports, Carter was pulled over for not changing lanes while passing an emergency vehicle, and in his complaint, Carter admits to being unable to provide Cheatham with an insurance card. After exchanging words, Carter said he refused consent to a search of his newer-model BMW.
Carter also asserts that Cheatham was “excessively aggressive.” Audio of the exchange is not available because it was not working during the traffic stop, according to police.
Cheatham’s report says Carter was asked several times to exit the vehicle. After Carter failed to listen or comply with commands, he was arrested for interference with public duties, according to Hale’s findings.
Carter also said in his complaint that he was never informed by Cheatham why he was being arrested and said he thought it was due to lack of producing an insurance card. He said he learned of the cause of his arrest at the Hays County Jail.
Cheatham said he did not inform Carter of the cause for his arrest due to Carter’s hostility, according to Hale’s findings. At that point, the report says, Cheatham ceased communication when it appeared ineffective and only caused further agitation to Carter.
BPD vehicles are equipped with the Watch Guard camera system, but a request for the video was rejected, pending an opinion from the Attorney General’s Office.
“The District Attorney’s office has indicated that its prosecution of Mr. Carter is still ongoing. In these situations (where the city receives a request for information while the District Attorney is still prosecuting a case) it is the city’s practice to seek the AG’s permission to withhold the documents,” said City Attorney Ross Fischer in an email. “This is done to prevent the release of documents from interfering with the DA’s prosecution of a case. Since Mr. Carter’s charge of Interference with Public Duties is still pending, the city will ask the AG to allow withholding of the video.”
Hale’s report shows that Cheatham’s traffic stops/citations involving African Americans were less than four percent of his total citations handed down. Cheatham’s citations by race show that he issued 677 to Whites, 195 to Hispanics, 41 to Blacks, 2 to Other, 1 to Mallard, and 1 to an Asian.
Hale also found that Buda’s annual Racial Profiling Audit found that African Americans made up 5 percent of the total traffic stops and that the audit showed no consent or probable cause searches involving African Americans.
