Officer is indicted in assault of homeless man

A Dickinson police officer accused of assaulting a homeless man has been indicted in connection with the February 2022 clash, the response to which was questioned in a whistleblower’s report, according Galveston County officials said.

A grand jury on Thursday indicted the officer, Michael Kinsley, with official oppression, a misdemeanor, and felony injury to an elderly person. He was placed on unpaid administrative leave soon after, Dickinson police Chief Michael Berezin said.

Kinsley is accused of assaulting the homeless man, Michael Scurlock, by throwing him to the ground after he had been hit by a slow-moving car. Jail videos showed Scurlock touching his head, slumping against a wall and urinating without standing up while in custody. Scurlock asked for help and told officers he couldn’t see.

His family said Scurlock was diagnosed with a brain bleed in the hospital after being released from jail.

Scurlock died in December 2022, with the cause of death being listed as Parkinson’s disease.

Kevin Petroff, Galveston County’s first assistant district attorney, specified that Kinsley is charged in connection with Scurlock’s injuries, not his death.

An internal affairs investigation at the department, conducted before Berezin’s tenure, cleared Kinsley of wrongdoing. A whistle blower’s claims, however, led to an outside investigation that found officers had withheld information from paramedics, failed to document Scurlock’s injuries or render aid and omitted critical information in their recounting of the events.

Mayor Sean Skipworth, who credited the whistleblower for coming forward about the alleged misconduct, passed the results of the outside investigation to the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office in early 2023, he said. A grand jury was convened nearly a year later.

“An indictment doesn’t mean he’s guilty, but we turned this case over to the DA because we thought something wasn’t right and it merited additional investigation,” Skipworth said.

Greg Cagle, an attorney who often represents police officers, represented Kinsley through the grand jury process, Petroff said. Cagle did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Berezin, who joined the Dickinson department soon after retiring from his longtime job as

Missouri City police chief, remained complimentary of Kinsley’s work during his administration and noted that the officer had recently been promoted to sergeant.

Nothing about the allegations would have stopped that “because of collective bargaining,” Berezin said.

As for the claims against Kinsley, Berezin expressed neutrality.

“I can’t answer for that incident nor will I render an opinion on it. Those investigations were done prior to me being here,” he said.