Because the City of Austin will not release more than 70 percent of sustained complaints about APD officers, the public presently cannot know exactly how many allegations of excessive force are upheld against APD officers. Moreover, since excessive force claims tend to be upheld less often than other types of citizen complaints, it's likely that far more incidents occurred which citizens viewed as excessive force than is indicated here. However, the following incidents were culled from the handful of cases the City did release. Because the information came from documents supervisors knew were public, in some cases information about the incidents themselves are sparse and abstractly worded. Minimal editing has been performed on the text of the disciplinary reports to clarify, but not alter, the meaning of the sometimes stilted language (e.g., "he impacted the suspect with the toe or top of the boot" becomes "he kicked the suspect"). Thus these accounts should be viewed as "paraphrased," though in truth they are very close to the original disciplinary memoranda.

Officer Scott Gunnlaugsson #2362

On or about September 12, 1994, at or about 11:30 p.m., in the 100 block of East 10th Street, Austin, Texas, Officer Scott Gunnlaugsson kicked a citizen after he was handcuffed. Officer Gunnlaugsson did not document this use of force in the offense report.

Officer Vincent Hernandez #2567

On or about February 21, 1995, Officer Vincent Hernandez used unnecessary force during a traffic stop in the 6000 block of Berkman in Austin, Texas. Officer Hernandez struck the driver in the face while the driver was seated in his vehicle. Officer Hernandez failed to document this use of force in the incident report regarding the traffic stop

On or about February 25, 1995, Officer Hernandez again used unnecessary force by kicking a handcuffed prisoner after the prisoner had been restrained and was not resisting. Officer Hernandez failed to document this use of force in his incident report and failed to submit a memo through his chain of command accurately describing his conduct.

Officer John Jacobson #2648

On or about July 27, 1995, while on foot patrol at the Rio Lado Apartments at 2989 East 51st Street in Austin, Officer Jacobson and Officer William Waddle stopped a vehicle. Officer Waddle asked the passenger to exit the vehicle, then told the passenger he was under arrest while Officer Jacobson talked to the driver. Before the citizen could be handcuffed, he pulled away from Officer Waddle and ran past the rear of the vehicle toward a security guard who worked for the apartment complex. Officer Waddle caught the citizen, grabbing him around the neck and shoulders while the security guard grabbed him by the left arm.

As both Officer Waddle and the security guard held on to the citizen, trying to stop his forward movement, Officer Jacobson came up to the right of Officer Waddle and grabbed the citizen's right arm. As he held the citizen's arm, Officer Jacobson struck the citizen with his flashlight, hitting him in the mouth and knocking out four of the man's front teeth.

Officer Jacobson described his use of force as an attempt to force the citizen to drop any weapon or contraband he might have had in his hands. However, Officer Jacobson admits that he did not know whether the citizen had a weapon and his use of the impact weapon was not deemed justified by APD investigators. Although the citizen was struggling with Officer Waddle and the security guard, Officer Jacobson used more force than necessary in assisting with the arrest. In his "use of force" memorandum prepared soon after the incident, Officer Jacobson failed to disclose the presence of the security guard and the fact that the guard was holding the citizen's arm when Officer Jacobson struck the citizen with the flashlight.

On or about September 30, 1995, Officer Jacobson responded to a domestic disturbance call. Officer Jacobson was joined by Officer Roland Everwijn. As they were escorting the suspect away from the residence, Officer Jacobson told the suspect to stop. When the man kept walking, Officer Jacobson told the man he was under arrest and grabbed the man by the shoulder. As the man turned and told Officer Jacobson that there was no need to grab him, Officer Jacobson used both arms and his full weight and forcefully pushed the man into the wall of the building. Although the man came off the wall and pushed back at Officer Jacobson, Officer Everwijn grabbed the man's right arm and blocked the stairway landing they were on. Officer Jacobson then raised his flashlight and struck the man on the forehead.

Officer Jacobson admits that he deliberately struck a "powerful" blow to the man's head to "take the fight out of him" because he did not want to fight with him. The man sustained a large cut to his head and was transported by EMS to Brackenridge Hospital.

Officer Jacobson used more force than necessary to detain the man and used a "powerful" blow from an impact weapon without attempting other means to effect the detention.

Officer Jacobson had been warned by his supervisors in 1994 that he was not to use his flashlight to strike suspects in the head.

Senior Officer Thomas Hardies #2363

On or about December 11, 1995, Officer Hardies participated in a felony car stop on an occupied stolen vehicle near the intersection of East Oltorf and Interstate 35, in Austin, Texas. Officer Hardies said he drew his service weapon in readiness and it discharged, resulting in injury to the driver. A ballistics examination showed the weapon to be functioning properly.

Senior Officer Alfred Trejo #2961

On or about December 22, 1995, Officer Trejo stopped a pedestrian in the 400 block of San Antonio Street near Republic Park, but the suspect ran before he could be frisked. Officer Trejo chased the suspect until he jumped into the driver's seat of a vehicle. Officer Trejo jumped into the vehicle with the suspect and they struggled as the vehicle accelerated until Officer Trejo fell from the vehicle. After the vehicle drove past Officer Trejo he fired his service weapon several times at the fleeing vehicle, an act which violates APD policy.

Officer Walter Harrison #2946

On or about September 2, 1996, Officer Harrison was working an off-duty security job at Red McCombs Toyota dealership when he approached a citizen who was at the dealership to pick up his car. Officer Harrison aproached the citizen and asked what he was doing there. Even though the citizen did not threaten Officer Harrison physically, Officer Harrison took the citizen to the ground and held him there. After Officer Harrison pulled the citizen to his feet, he grabbed him by the throat and held him until he released him to one of his companions. Officer Harrison used profanity toward the citizen and has admitted doing so.

Officer Reynaldo Brown #1292

On or about March 15, 1997, Officer Brown was on duty as part of the Austin Police Department's Gang Unit at the Travis County Livestock and Rodeo Show Carnival at the Travis County Exposition Center. Officer Brown stopped a group of individuals whom he suspected of being involved in a previous confromtation with another officer. A small struggle occurred between Officer Brown and one of the individuals, but other officers joined Officer Brown. When the individuals failed to respond to Officer Brown's directive to put their hands on their heads, Officer Brown struck two of the individuals with his flashlight in an attempt to gain compliance with his directive. Officer Brown also used profanity in talking with the individuals by asking them who they were "eye fucking".

Senior Officer Gerardo Molina #2435

On or about March 28, 1997, Officer Molina attended an Austin Ice Bats ice hockey game with Officer Charles Leadford and others. At the end of the game, Leadford and Molina joined other spectators at an area which had been roped off to provide an exit for the players through the crowd.

Molina was aware that Austin Police Department officers were providing security for the event because Officer Mike Dunn acknowledged Molina in the crowd and asked him to step back from the rope, and he complied with the request. As the losing team, the El Paso Buzzards, were leaving the ice through the roped off area, Molina, Leadford, and other spectators pressed up to the rope, booing and yelling obscenities at the team. As one player passed throught the roped area, Molina leaned over the rope and elbowed the player, without provocation from the player. Another player saw Molina's action, confronted him, and a scuffle ensued. Officer Mike Dunn and Detective Raul Munguia broke up the scuffle, trying to prevent a bigger fight between the players and spectators. Officer Dunn tried to detain Molina by grabbing the back of his head, but Molina evaded Officer Dunn and was then pulled away by Leadford. Both Molina and Leadford then left the scene without contacting Officer Dunn or any of the other officers working at the game.

Officer Molina's actions jeopardized the safety of the players, the spectators, and his fellow officers and could have incited a full scale fight among the players and the crowd.

Senior Officer Robert Field #2752

On or about June 21, 1997, while off duty, Officer Field was working for an apartment complex in Austin. At approximately 4:30 a.m., Officer Field went on a routine patrol of the apartment grounds. Although Officer Field had his pistol and flashlight with him, he failed to take with him any other police equipment such as handcuffs, baton, or a holster for his pistol. While walking through the apartment grounds, Officer Field encountered a male citizen he thought was behaving suspiciously and followed him. When the citizen hid behind some bushes next to an apartment building, Officer Field shone his flashlight on him, identified himself as a police officer, ordered the citizen to lie down on the ground, and placed the citizen under arrest.

While waiting for on duty officers to respond to the scene, the citizen remained on the ground while Officer Field held his flashlight in one hand and his pistol in the other hand. Because the citizen gave Officer Field a "funny look" and began to rise to his hands and knees, Officer Field ordered him back down on the ground. When the citizen did not immediately comply, Officer Field kicked him.

Officer Field asserts that he kicked the citizen in the abdomen. The citizen suffered sugnificant injuries to his left side toward his back, including a ruptured spleen and two fractured ribs. Neither the location nor the severity of the citizen's injuries are consistent with Officer Field's description of his use of force.

Following the arrest, Officer Field failed to document his use of force in a memorandum submitted through his chain of command, as required by Department procedures. He also did not have approval from the Department to work in the off duty capacity, nor did he have a valid secondary employement contract signed by the apartment complex.

Detective Keith Sheffield #2379

On or about October 11, 1997, Detective Sheffield and other officers responded to 504 San Jose Street in Austin, Texas, in response to a shots fired/home invasion call. As officers surrounded the residence, Detective Sheffield was sent to the back of the residence and took up a position next to a shed in the backyard of the residence next door, approximately sixty (60) feet from the back of the residence. Lighting conditions were poor and it was raining heavily.

From his position, Detective Sheffield saw a citizen emerge from a door onto a porch of the residence. The citizen retreated into the residence when Sheffield shone his flashlight on him and yelled "Freeze, police." Almost immediately thereafter, Detective Sheffield saw another citizen suddenly jump out of the far north window of the residence, breaking the window glass. The citizen landed in the yard, then quickly rose. Detective Sheffield fired two shots as the man rose and fled from the yard. One of the shots struck the citizen in the back; that individual was subsequently arrested in a nearby yard.

Officer Sheffield was initially given a one-day suspension, but APD Chief Stan Knee rescinded that, deciding the case warranted no discipline at all, but merely additional "training." This incident is the same one described in the entry under Gregory Steen.

Senior Officer Richard Stevens #2659

On or about January 31, 1998, while on duty and conducting a traffic stop, Officer Stevens told the female passenger of the vehicle that he would have blown her brains out had she not put down something she had been holding in her hands. The female passenger was fifteen (15) years old and had been holding a perfume bottle.

On or about April 3, 1998, while on duty and driving a marked police vehicle, Officer Stevens was driving southbound on Interstate 35 in the City of Austin. As he proceeded southbound, Officer Stevens drove his vehicle very close to the vehicle in front of him at approximately fifty-five (55) miles per hour, at times following so closely that the driver of the vehicle in front of him could not see his vehicle's headlights or read the "Police" lettering on the front of the vehicle. Officer Stevens was not responding to a call or other emergency and his driving was dangerous and frightening to the driver of the vehicle he was following.

Officer Stephen Burgess #3381

On or about March 12, 1998, at approximately 11:50 p.m., Officer Burgess was on duty and responded to a criminal mischief call at 1100 Post Oak Road in Austin, Texas. The complainant advised Officer Burgess and Officer Robert Nunez that his roommate had damaged his automobile and had thrown a rock through his apartment window. The roommate had already left the scene on foot before the officers responded.

Officers Burgess and Nunez looked for the roommate in the surrounding area for approximately an hour. When they were unable to locate him, they cleared the call at approximately 12:50 a.m. and proceeded with other calls. Approximately one hour later, Officers Burgess and Nunez went to a convenience store at the corner of Lamar Boulevard and Barton Skyway. While at that location, they stopped and talked briefly to someone who fit the description they had been given for the roommate, but confirmed that it was not the roommate. At that time, the roommate they had been looking for walked up and spoke briefly to the other suspect, but not to the officers. When the officers asked the roommate for his name, he replied that it was "Larry." When asked to produce identification, the roommate fled from officers.

Officers Burgess and Nunez pursued the roommate and Officer Nunez caught the roommate and took him to the ground. The roommate resisted Officer Nunez's attempts to handcuff him, but was not flailing around or trying to get to his feet. Officer Burgess ran up to the roommate and Officer Nunez but did not attempt to help Officer Nunez handcuff the roommate or restrain the roommate by using empty hand control techniques. Instead, Officer Burgess produced his "asp" or extendable baton and repeatedly struck the roommate with the baton on the legs and buttocks.

Neither Officer Burgess' use of an impact weapon nor the manner in which he used it was a justifiable use of force under the circumstances. Officer Burgess failed to even attempt the use of lesser levels of force, attempting to justify his use of the impact weapon by claiming that he was afraid he would catch a communicable disease from the roommate if he attempted to touch him.

(Source: APD Disciplinary Memoranda revealed through a 7-98 open records request.)