Houston Police Use Innocent Citizens as Human Shield in Road Blockade

September 03, 2010

Houston attorney Michael Callahan of The Callahan Law Firm and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed suit today in U.S. District Court in Houston on behalf of Mecole Roques and Dexter Sewell against the City of Houston, the HPD Chief of Police, six Houston police officers, Harris County, and four county constables.

The suit arises from the officers and constables' decision to seize and use the vehicle Roques and Sewell were in as part of an extremely dangerous nighttime barricade across Interstate 10, near the North Wayside overpass.

On January 14, 2009, Mr. Roques and Mr. Sewell were driving along Interstate 10 when HPD officers W.G. Munoz and R.T. Hatcher stopped their car as part of a barricade that blocked traffic along the freeway at night, following a curve, on the blind side of an overpass. Munoz and Hatcher intended to stop all westbound traffic though this use of private, occupied vehicles as a human barrier to stop a vehicle fleeing other officers.

At the same time, HPD officers A. Ulloa, J.M. Olivarez, Hightower, and D.A. Riggs, along with Harris County constables Jason Curry and Troy Craig, were chasing a young lady driving a stolen Harris County Constable's vehicle at speeds over 80 miles per hour toward the man-made death trap. The officers continued to chase the car despite knowing there were no weapons in the car, and it was equipped with a global positioning system. When the car crested the North Wayside overpass on I-10, the driver applied her brakes but was unable to stop before crashing into and crushing the Roques-Sewell car and its occupants. The crash left both men permanently brain damaged, disabled and unable to care for themselves and their minor children.

The suit seeks damages and an injunction to stop HPD and Harris County from using as roadblocks vehicles privately owned and occupied by innocent citizens. Plaintiffs also seek punitive damages against the officers, who used them as a human barricade while keeping themselves out of harm's way on the safe side of the roadblock. Plaintiffs' suit also demands better training and supervision of roadblock practices by officers in the future.

"The officers' use of innocent and unknowing Harris County citizens as a roadblock is a betrayal of the trust we place in police officers to protect parents, children and families in this community. These officers deliberately put innocent bystanders in harm's way, while taking cover on the other side of the roadblock, out of danger," says lead attorney Michael Callahan.

"There is absolutely no justification for public servants to sacrifice innocent bystanders as they did," according to TCRP attorney Todd Batson.

TCRP Director Jim Harrington, co-counsel for the suit, called the officers' conduct "morally reprehensible, extraordinarily dangerous, and far outside the bounds of reasonable police conduct."

Michael Callahan and The Callahan Law Firm represent people throughout the state of Texas in serious injury and wrongful death cases. The Firm is based in Houston. The Texas Civil Rights Project is a nonprofit foundation that promotes racial, social, and economic justice in Texas through education and litigation.

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