Officer whose shots hit baby has a long list of suspensions
The Houston police officer who last month fired shots into a woman’s car, striking her baby in the head and killing the robbery suspect attempting to carjack her, has a lengthy disciplinary history spanning his nearly 15-year career with the department.
Houston Police Department leaders have suspended Officer Erick Garza six times for a total of 23 days between 2006 and 2020 after finding that he violated a number of department policies, according to a personnel file obtained by the Chronicle.
The incidents for which Garza was disciplined include crashing his patrol vehicle five times and causing more than $5,000 in damage; sending inappropriate text messages and photos to the wife of a man he arrested; failing to complete a thorough offense report of a sexual assault case; and endangering the sexual assault victim’s life by speeding at 98 mph en route to the station, among other infractions.
There were no records of useof-force policy violations or a previous weapons discharge in Garza’s file.
Garza was among an undisclosed number of officers who pulled up shortly after 11:30 p.m. March 3 to a Chevron gas station at 7931 Southwest Freeway where Daisha Smalls was pumping gas, her 1-year-old boy Legend Smalls in his car seat.
Broderick Woods, an aggravated robbery suspect who was fleeing from officers, was attempting to carjack Smalls. When Smalls screamed and refused to leave her baby in the car, Woods jumped on her lap in the driver’s seat. Officers surrounded the vehicle and commanded that Woods drop his pistol and show his hands, but he failed to obey, according to police.
Garza fired multiple shots because he was “fearing for the safety of the citizen and her 1-year-old child,” the department said. Woods, a 33-year-old father of three, was killed, and gunfire struck Legend in the head.
The boy’s mother said her child was still fighting for his life in mid-March after doctors removed a bullet from his brain. They also removed part of his skull and put him on a ventilator. The family’s attorneys — Ben Crump, Antonio Romanucci and Darren Miller — have not yet filed a lawsuit in Harris County, according to court filings.
Police said Friday that there was no update in the shooting investigation, and a spokesman did not know when the body camera footage of the shooting will be released. Garza remains on administrative duty. The Houston Police Officers’ Union did not respond to a request for comment.
Garza was sworn in to the department in July 2006 and was assigned to the Westside Patrol Division.
Less than three months into the job, Garza’s captain issued a written reprimand when the officer crashed his patrol car into a drainage ditch. The next February, the police chief suspended Garza for three days after another on-duty crash and wrote that he should attend the Houston Police Academy’s defensive driving course “as soon as possible.”
The officer was again suspended for a day in 2010 after crashing into a civilian car on a freeway.
In January 2015, according to disciplinary records, Garza failed to complete a thorough and accurate report for a sexual assault investigation. He failed to note a proper address, detailed statements, a scene description, the victim’s injuries and officers’ actions at the scene.
While transporting the victim, Garza’s police vehicle reached 98 mph on the Sam Houston Tollway, according to a report. He slowed to 78 mph when the victim asked him to decrease his speed.
The investigation found that Garza violated multiple rules and “put the lives of those in the police vehicle at risk and endangered the lives of others on the road,” according to the report. One day of his paid time off was deducted.
Also that year, Garza struck a car while backing up in an “unsafe manner” and was required to attend the police academy’s “atfault crash remediation” course, records show.
In January 2016, Garza arrested a man suspected of drunken driving after a crash on the Sam Houston Parkway. When the man’s wife came to the scene, Garza got her number so he could provide her with information on her husband’s bonding process. He texted her after 11 p.m. that night and began sending personal messages not related to the case, records show.
The pair texted through the next day, exchanging more than 300 messages. Garza multiple times admitted he knew he was flirting and that it was inappropriate because they were both married and he arrested her husband. He asked for photos, which she declined, and sent her a picture of him flexing his arm in the mirror.
The disciplinary report said Garza’s actions were contrary to the department’s core values of honor, integrity and respect and demonstrated “a clear indication of a severe lack of sound judgment.”
Former acting chief Martha Montalvo gave Garza a 15-day suspension instead of an indefinite suspension pursuant to the police union’s Meet and Confer Agreement and “in hopes of salvaging Officer Garza’s career,” she wrote in a report.
“It is my belief that such an agreement is in the best interest of Officer Garza and the Houston Police Department and hopefully will allow him to once again be a productive member of this department,” Montalvo wrote.
After that incident, Garza was notified that any additional infractions of departmental rules or policies may result in his indefinite suspension, according to his file.
Last February, Garza was driving without a seat belt when he failed to control his speed, hydroplaned and struck a wall. The Westside Division commander suspended him for two days.