Harker Heights police have released the body camera footage of the arrest of a woman who blamed the police for injuries she said she had received from the arrest.
Initially, the Harker Heights Police Department said that the officer's body camera had malfunctioned. Leah Dure had said that she had been assaulted during the arrest on Jan. 1, but police said her injuries were from a domestic dispute she had with her boyfriend's wife. The department said Friday that technical efforts were made to recover the video and it was successful. In the video, Officer J. Wood said that the Dure had a swollen eye but she hadn't said anything about where she had received it.
On Tuesday, Central Texas News Now received the arrest affidavit of Leah Dure, the woman in the alleged incident. The affidavit said that on New Year’s Day, an officer was dispatched to 850 W. Central Texas Expressway for a disturbance. When the officer arrived, a car was parked in the ambulance bay.
According to the affidavit, Dure had an odor of an alcoholic beverage on her person. When officers tried to remove her from the car, she jumped to the passenger side. An officer from the Killeen Police Department was able to take her out of the car. Dure was arrested for public intoxication. In a press conference hosted by the department, Chief Mike Gentry said that after Dure was released from custody, Dure and her boyfriend, William Stewart III, made a report that Dure's injuries were from an officer with the Harker Heights police officer.
Around the 10-minute mark, the woman asks the officer why she is being arrested. Officer Wood explains she is currently being arrested for Public Intoxication. The officer explained to the woman again why she is being arrested towards the end of the video.
Dure's lawyer, Lee Merritt, dropped the case on Wednesday.
After dropping the claim, Merritt added "In almost every civil rights case I’ve ever worked, false charges were dropped against my clients by the city. In no case I’ve ever worked has the city or their attorneys issued an apology to the wrongfully accused. Ever."
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