Neighbors sue police chief
New Boston, Texas, Chief of Police Tony King and his wife are being sued by landowners who claim their commercial timber was damaged by an intentionally set fire on the King’s neighboring property.
The suit was originally filed in Bowie County District Court in September on behalf of Dale and Ann Whitfield of Mississippi by Texarkana lawyer Jonathan Beck of the firm Dunn, Nutter and Morgan. An amended petition was filed March 22. The amended petition alleges the Kings were burning brush and debris on their
property Jan. 31, 2016, in the process of clearing a large tree from their property on County Road 1120 in Maud, Texas.
The petition alleges the Kings were burning “without proper safeguards or supervision, and despite obvious dangers,” when a fire spread across adjoining land onto the Whitfield’s cultivated and managed timberland, “an important investment for their retirement.”
The petition states that an investigator from Texas A&M Forest Service Law Enforcement concluded that the fire which destroyed the Whitfield’s timber started on the Kings’ property and states that a Bowie County Fire Marshal concurred with the finding.
The petition alleges the Kings were negligent for failing to properly supervise the fire, for failing to control and tend the fire, for leaving their property in a condition in which the fire easily spread and for failing to provide adequate measures to suppress a fire should it get out of control.
“Defendant Tony King has willfully concealed his wrongful actions as part of a cover-up of his gross negligence and other unlawful actions,” the petition alleges. “Defendant Tony King’s wrongful and unlawful actions are part of a pattern of abusive and malicious behavior, including wrongful arrests, sexually graphic phone messages, and the use of racial slurs, demonstrating his lack of concern for the risk of harm to others.”
The suit accuses Tony King of willfully disregarding the “extreme degree of risk of damage” despite knowing it existed and proceeding to burn debris “with conscious indifference to the rights, safety, or welfare of others.”
The Whitfields are seeking compensation for: the value of the timber lost in the fire; costs incurred to salvage timber from the damaged property; costs incurred to clean up the property and get it ready for reforestation; costs incurred to clearcut, reseed and replant timber; lost profits; and out-of-pocket costs to address the damage.
The Whitfields are also asking for an award of punitive damages meant to deter future conduct in the future. The petition asks for punitive damages at two times the amount of the economic damages “plus an amount equal to any noneconomic damages found by the jury, not to exceed $750,000.”
The Kings filed a response to the original petition denying any wrongdoing but have not yet filed a response to the amended petition. The case is pending before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. No hearings are scheduled.