HPD investigation cleared indicted officer
Almost a year before a Houston police officer was indicted this week, a department probe cleared him of the use of force allegation that led to a grand jury’s decision, according to an internal memo.
Shane Privette, a five-year veteran with HPD, is charged now with aggravated assault by a public servant for the injuries during an undercover drug buy that left Dwayne Walker with a black eye and bruises to his cheek and forehead. The uniformed patrol officer kneed Walker in the side and face as he attempted to flee the Nov. 14, 2017, arrest, authorities said.
The Internal Affairs Division concluded its probe into Privette’s conduct last July, however, and declared that he was “exonerated” of wrongdoing, said Houston Police Officers’ Union President Joe Gamaldi, who shared a copy of the memo that cleared the officer.
“He did nothing wrong,” Gamaldi said, arguing that use of the officer’s knee to take down the suspect was “acceptable within department procedures.”
Harris County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Dane Schiller said the results of HPD’s internal investigation had no bearing on whether a criminal case could be pursued. Internal affairs passed the results of the investigation to the DA’s office for review and a grand jury Wednesday indicted Privette on the charge, he continued.
Schiller said the grand jury was asked to examine the evidence HPD supplied them, the circumstances behind the incident and the severity of Walker’s injuries, which were visible in his booking photo.
Privette had not surrendered to authorities as of Thursday night and his lawyer, Aaron Suder, did not return a call requesting comment.
During a news conference Thursday, Gamaldi painted Privette as a decorated officer with “numerous commendations” and Walker as a career criminal with nearly two dozen arrests. He also outlined the incident that left Walker battered and bruised based on a description of the body camera footage, which Gamaldi said he had not independently viewed.
Privette was dispatched to a gas station to help apprehend Walker following an undercover operation, Gamaldi said. Walker complained of a shoulder injury during the arrest and asked Privette not to handcuff him. The officer obliged by trying to restrain him with his hands in front, Gamaldi added.
“Walker immediately starts resisting, pushes away and attempts to flee,” Gamaldi said. “I guess his shoulder didn’t hurt nearly as much as he thought it did.”
According to the union boss, Walker was tackled to the ground and began struggling with Privette.
“Privette delivered knee strike to torso to gain compliance and get him safely in custody,” Gamaldi said. “He then delivered one knee strike to the head.”
Only then did Walker comply, Gamaldi said, adding that the melee left Walker with a cut to his face. The Houston Fire Department was called to treat him, he said. The injuries left Walker hospitalized for at least two days, according to court records. He missed his probable cause hearing and complained in a December 2017 letter that he suffered a “broken left eye socket caused by H.P.D.”
Gamaldi said a knee strike could have caused the other injuries to Walker’s face but chalked them up as the consequences of resisting a police officer.
Walker, 52, pleaded guilty to the charge of manufacturing and/or delivery of less than a gram of a controlled substance in March 2018 and is serving a 10-month prison sentence in Beaumont, court records show.