Officer in use-of-force case reaches agreement for bond

A Houston police officer who was indicted in relation to a use-of-force allegation has agreed to a bond, his attorney said on Friday.

Shane Privette has not yet been taken into custody and was scheduled to post the $1,000 bond Friday, said Aaron Suder, who is representing the fiveyear veteran through the Houston Police Officers’ Union. Suder and union President Joe Gamaldi have questioned the indictment, citing a departmental probe that had cleared Privette of the allegation almost a year before the grand jury’s decision.

“Everything that the officer did was perfectly in compliance with his training and HPD policy,” the attorney said. “We’re shocked that this case resulted in an indictment.”

Privette is charged with aggravated assault by a public servant for injuries Dwayne Walker sustained during an undercover drug buy. He left the encounter with a black eye and bruises to the cheek and forehead, after the uniformed patrol officer kneed Walker in the side and face as he attempted to flee the Nov. 14, 2017, arrest, prosecutors said.

Walker was hospitalized for at least two days, according to court records. In a December 2017 letter, he complained that he suffered a “broken left eye socket caused by H.P.D.”

The police department’s Internal Affairs Division concluded a probe into Privette’s conduct last July and determined he was “exonerated of wrongdoing,” Gamaldi said.

Internal affairs passed the results of the investigation to the district attorney’s office for review, and a grand jury indicted Privette on the charge on Wednesday, Harris County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Dane Schiller said.

In a news conference on Thursday, Gamaldi described Privette as an officer with “numerous commendations” and Walker as a career criminal with nearly two dozen arrests.

Privette was helping to arrest Walker following an undercover operation, Gamaldi said. The man complained of a shoulder injury during the arrest and asked Privette, a uniformed officer, not to handcuff him.

He tried to restrain Walker with his hands in front, and he started resisting and attempting to flee, Gamaldi continued. He was then tackled to the ground, and Privette delivered a knee strike to the torso and another knee strike to the head to gain compliance, Gamaldi said.

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 10month prison sentence in Beaumont, court records show.