on September 21st 2019 deputies from the Williamson County Sheriff's Office responded to a domestic violence call at an Austin apartment complex a female Deputy arrived first and spoke with the neighbor who had made the call after gathering information she approached the apartment of the woman involved in the reported incident the incident was recorded by Body cam I have to yeah I'm glad you did which one is she what's her name yeah I'll talk to youall in a second hey let me talk to you real quick yes do you need Ms no I'm fine come out here come out here I really want to deal with Y people all right well we'll make sure you're okay I'm fine 16 through6 County we're code code four uh she does not need EMS so what happened nothing look up for me what's on your neck what happened nothing happened so I have witnesses saying something happens are you trying to protect him no I just really don't like dealing with you I really don't want to deal with you I really don't okay so I don't need to talk to you I really don't do you have your ID on you or anything no I don't so what's your last name how do you spell your first name why do you need all this stuff because we have to document that we're here okay where is the guy that allegedly I mean we don't we I don't know where he's at so he left he does he live in this apartment complex no he does not you don't know which way he went I don't know and if I did I would have 1636 k94 victim's advising she does not know which way he went so were y'all I'm trying to figure out why your friend's called the cops what friend or your Witnesses whoever was over here that called us okay so we got we got into an argument that's it that's it okay it was nothing physical nothing physical where are the marks on your neck from we got my necklace right here no this right here what is that from does it really matter yes to make sure you're okay I'm fine ma'am I'm fine like literally I'm fine I get I'm going to be honest with you I get a rash talking to y'all I do not want to talk to you and especially Williamson County you'all have a really bad reputation I have bad encounters with you I do not want I'm not going to hurt you I know you aren't mad okay so we're just we need your cooperation and I'm do you want to press charges I do not I do not despite the woman's reluctance the deputy gathered the necessary information but the woman expressed discomfort with the Williamson County Police ciding past unpleasant interaction actions she clearly stated that she did not wish to press charges against her boyfriend even when asked about the scratch marks on her neck legally since the woman provided her name date of birth and expressed her desire not to press charges the appropriate action for the deputy would be to leave the scene and complete her report without further escalation a relevant legal case to consider is Town of Castle Rock V Gonzalez 2005 in this case the US Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement does not have a constitutional duty to protect individuals by enforcing a restraining order which is typically seen as discretionary police action this can be extended to domestic violence situations where if a victim is unwilling to press charges and there is no immediate danger Law Enforcement Officers may not be required to take further action Beyond gathering information and Reporting is anyone else in the apartment with you okay can I talk to her yes okay no I really don't want you to talk okay well if she wants to talk to me that I can talk to her she does not want to talk to how do I know that because I told her that she had nothing to do with this okay well let me try to make contact with her do you want to go back inside for the time being no I don't I really don't okay well then step over here for me so what what's the deal what is your problem first I'm trying to figure out what's going on I'm trying to tell you ma'am she had nothing to do with this I called her after because I called the cops I didn't call the cops I'm asking who called the cops guys those people I don't know you don't know them I don't know them I never met those people in my life I don't know them have y all been arguing before like what why are people concerned then that's the thing I've never know okay what's your sister's name she's my sister are you sure she's not the one that called the cops it was either them or your sister that called the cops sister okay well if you want to just go back inside for the time being and then we're going to meet up with my partners and see what's going on thank you so I got her name and date of birth she doesn't want to be cooperative I see some marks on her neck that might be fresh she's saying she's denying medical attention she said she didn't want to talk to us sister doesn't want to talk they live in here so she I don't even went all in my house I'm like well we got to find the guy that allegedly did this so she didn't give direction travel description anything she's like he left I don't know where he went third level di satisfaction so we need to see if this guy's inside your apartment who else is in here my sister um no y really don't you really don't this is tres [Music] okay well stop let go me me please relax I just want to go please go in with him no you stay here you need you need to go in with him I don't TR I just want [Music] to I'm not doing oh my gosh you're psycho just stop moving just stop just lay there please just lay there being [Music] detained oh my goodness please help me please get off me don't need to touch me like this please all right man you're going to have to calm down running your mouth calm down you understand you need to understand we can talk to you please let me get up please quit talking quit talking shut your mouth and quit talking okay and I can talk to you and let you know why we're doing what we're doing and what's going on regardless of whether or not you want to cooperate we're going to do follow the attorney L there please just L relax so we can talk to you call our attorney call the attorney right now call the lawyer right now listen relax so we can talk to you we're just trying to talk to you and make sure you're okay because you're we're not trying you're hurting me though you're hurting me I was in hurt before and you're hurting me I felt pain and you're making me feel pain relax relax where are you hurting you're hurting my arms you're hurting my you're literally putting so much pressure on me you to relax though I was relaxed I was just trying to talk to you and I didn't want to talk to you that's it side the deputies handcuffed the woman despite her please handling her as if she were a criminal she expressed that while she wasn't hurt by the alleged domestic abuse she was now in pain due to the depuy's actions the footage shows her in an uncomfortable and possibly painful position with her arm Twisted in a way that clearly causes discomfort this highlights the excessive physical Force used by the deputies under relevant Texas Penal Code officers are only authorized to use Force when it's reasonable and necessary for an arrest maintaining security or in self-defense here we gooll roll over just want relax okay do not get up stay seated stay with her do you need medical attention no okay just trying to talk to her she's going to just stay over there for me just sit there it's your fault get over it it's not your fault dude okay stop we were here but you're not helping me you're making it so much worse we try to come help you I'm not I'm not hurt I just sit there don't touch me I don't know sit don't touch me please just get your hands off me I'm fine just don't touch me please don't touch me so what what like I'm trying to figure out what's going on that's figure she's overreacting just please okay I'm I'm on your side just don't don't talk okay you're making things words for yourself stop enough is enough okay enough this enough it's time to get out of this situation why would you go someone stop stop stop 1636 to 1442 you calling me I'm so over this dude like these people are psycho I've heard about L we came here y Wen even supposed to go into my apartment yo with with what I'm literally going to press charges on y'all we have a possible felony possible felony for what for who he's not here I'm telling you but you don't know where he went I don't know where he went okay like what in pton V New York the US Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment prohibits law enforcement officers from entering a suspect's home without a warrant or consent to make a routine felony arrest the decision reinforced the principal that police officers may not enter a dwelling without a warrant or the consent of the homeowner unless there are exigent circumstances such as the immediate pursuit of a suspect or the threat of imminent danger it is therefore unlawful for officers to search or even enter her home without a warrant during her detention oh my God oh my God these people would do anything to get money like what no dude this is ridiculous you're so close-minded what okay good here stand up keep I need to get my I need get my phone what are you trying to get I'm getting my phone I got it okay get on your feet you can understand where your hand's right now so what happened we were trying to talk right that's all we were trying to do hey someone take these handcuffs off you how do you turn the light off are we going to be cool if we take these handcuffs off the light's not on it's not on it's all right ma'am so I wasn't here with information relate to you when we come to stuff like this we're going to check for safety reasons okay we're going to make sure he's not here and you're not hiding in we understand you don't want to cooperate we can't force you to do that we get that we understand that but you don't do what you just did not when we show up for something like this we don't get your cooperation that is what happens yes okay all this scream make it make does not make us stop okay it only makes us get you secure faster okay as my understanding you do not want to cooperate correct yes sir okay we know who he is we're going to find him eventually he comes back over here for whatever reason you're having a call because he's continuing to do what he's going to do we're going to take him to jail understand those circumstances that you y'all put yourselves in and y'all make us have to deal with those issues okay yes sir are you injured no do you need medical attention you need I'm good I'm great okay next time in the future when we show up you don't have the right to do that keep us out of your house you do not can you tell me why exactly like what's what are my legal what are my legal rights can you tell me my legal rights what are my rights what are what are your legal rights can you tell my showing up to a domestic disturbance but can you tell me what the like the protocol is like why do I have to let y'all come in without me even saying I'm just I'm trying to explain to you but you're interrupting me you're going to stop talking so I can tell you I just told you we have to do a welfare check and make sure all persons are secure in this house do not need medical attention most importantly he is not in here when we have an individual such as yourself that's not want to cooperate n out of 10 it's because he's in here okay that's obvious not the case he may have jumped out he may have left he may have been somewhere else we may have missed him in here who knows okay that's how that works do you have any further questions no sir do you have any further questions okay understand all that drama all that screaming not help your situation no okay we have a job to do whether you understand it in the moment I don't care we hope you understand after the fact if you're listening like we're talking right now then we'll go ahead and per me the best we can okay so what is going to happen from here on out you live here correct I live here yes ma' you live here I live down the street okay are you going to stay here with her or you going to leave I'm going to have to stay here with her okay what happens if he comes back obviously she's going to put up you I I don't know do are you fearful of him of his actions okay I suggest you not be here she doesn't care about your say you don't need to be here but if that's how y if that's how you live that's understanding you have do what I to do okay you want to leave now while we're here are you going to stay here with and you made a statement out there that you wanted to die are you feeling suicidal no no no I swear to God I'm great I was just in that moment I'm just okay I understand you're upset but like he said you cannot I don't want to go handson with you I'm here to help you okay okay Hernandez pleaded guilty to official oppression other charges being dropped he was sentenced to 6 months of deferred adjudication he voluntarily left the force in 20120 the woman filed a lawsuit and was awarded $200,000 in settlement by Williamson County on August 30th 2018 in the early morning hours Carl carala and plain clothed police officer with the San Antonio Police Department saw a pickup truck parked behind a shopping center inside delivery dver dri Jose Castro was dozing off during a break suspecting that the van might be linked to recent burglaries officer carala called for backup officers Michael Thornton Kimberly Corey and sha King arrived on scene the interaction was captured on officer Thornton's body camera want ghost call it Carl you in the truck come out with your hands up San Antonio police contact come out with your hands up San Antonio police let me see some hands I am the police come out the police you been a kill I'm coming to get your come [Music] here San Antonio police you understand the the police right then you need to come out that truck right now sir the real police come out the truck watch yourself watch yourself come out of that truck watch out Kim get us Eagle get us Eagle s Antonio police come out of the truck is he going out the other side that way this is the San Antonio police you need to exit the vehicle get out of the truck what do you got calll talk to me you need to exit the vehicle sir sir you're about 30 seconds away from a trip to the hospital and going to jail okay he's uh he's on the phone right now and he's disregarding everything we're saying I don't know who he's talking [Music] to where are the police sir I think he's saying that he needs to send police he's not believing us even though we got some Mark units out here in full uniform I am the police exit the vehicle why you need because they they got gun and me why me we ain't shot at you sir exit the vehicle exit the vehicle with your hands up where you at get out of the24 okay he's refusing to do anything for us you need to exit the vehicle get out of the we are the police you don't see the red and blue lights behind you when officer carala and the others arrived Mr Castro not believing they were actual police officers refused to exit his vehicle instead he called 911 and turned on his truck's emergency flashing lights to signal for help failing to follow an officer instructions can be seen as interfering with their duties which can give officers a reason to arrest someone however to be guilty of interference the person must be aware that their actions are risky and unjustifiable if Mr Castro were charged with interference he could argue that he genuinely believed the officers were not real police so he wasn't being Reckless even though Mr Castro might have a defense officers only need a reasonable suspicion to detain someone and ask them to exit the vehicle Eagle we're going to be south of 1604 uh we're in a big open field we do have the red and blues activated on the uh Patrol C this guy's got the driver door open dispatch send me a k9 send me a k9 expedite that's all right the k9's on the way you're going to get bit if you don't come out of that truck the K9 is going to bite you if you do not exit the vehicle I got nothing I got no view on him and uh R is a Spanish speaker he's speaking English but maybe he'll understand in some Spanish stop reaching for sir stop it you got a whole lot of police rolling down on you you need to exit the vehicle exit the vehicle sir I don't care what you think I need you to exit the vehicle he's turned the truck on he's not coming out I think he called 911 I tried that what he doing Carl yeah you're going to get T get out the truck did get out of the truck no but what I did what I did don't come don't come don't come don't come you can see where the police right why you do do that we want to talk to you what can talk to me qu grab it for me put your hands behind your back okay okay stop okay okay okay okay okay wrong you don't raise your hand up to me like you're going to hit me but jump him jump him jump him to the ground on the ground give me that hand right now you're going to the hospital if you don't give no no no listen listen you listen what I did no no did nothing coming around fers nothing how many times we too late the body camera footage does not show Mr Castro being removed from the vehicle but according to a document released by the fifth Circuit Court of Appeals officer car Wala approached the truck from the passenger door and pointed his AR-15 at Mr Castro's forehead while officers King and Thornton approached the driver's side and attempted to remove Mr Castro Mr Castro pulled away and flailed his arms to avoid being removed officer King then struck Mr Castro in the head and leg pointed his firearm at Mr Castro's head causing him to exit the vehicle once Mr Castro was out officer King struck his left arm twice officer off Thornton executed a leg sweep and the three officers took Mr Castro to the ground to handcuff him officer carala handcuffed Mr Castro while officers King and Thornton applied pain compliance techniques the Supreme Court's 1989 case Graham V Connor established three factors for determining excessive force the severity of the crime whether the suspect poses an immediate threat and whether the suspect is actively resisting or attempting to flee given that Mr Castro did not pose in apparent danger and was simply refusing to comply the pointing of a firearm at his head is likely to be deemed excessive force San Antonio PD's use of force policy states officers may only use deadly force to prevent imminent serious bodily injury or death and prohibits brandishing a weapon as a threat unless reasonable in the situation therefore officer carala and officer King's actions likely violated this policy I told I don't have down I don't have hey I doing delivery no you're doing a jail run now no no no no no no I can't do it nothing you SC me that's why I prom I promise I do nothing yeah what type of delivery animal supply I got delivered right now and when we ask you to step out of the car and identify ourselves as law enforcement you didn't come out oh somebody somebody somebody Li me and somebody shooting nobody shot there was not one shot out here I I I saw somebody with with the gun I I can't I can't I promise I promise I'm not doing I promise you're going to jail no no no I can't AP listen listen Pro I I do I do the right I don't understand I'm working right now I stop just when the police tell you to do something you do it man what part of that don't you understand yeah oh listen listen you're wrong you're wrong you're wrong no no no no I'm not doing nothing I promise I promise I promise I don't have nothing I'm so sorry for maybe maybe got sleeping this F just only five minutes sleeping I'm PA Jackson I don't do nothing why toate for all that guy no sir listen listen I saw people shooting with me you made me nervous shot I saw I saw I saw gun in my face Jackson I don't understand why you do that because you didn't listen to our directions have a seat you didn't follow simple directions please please please sit down no I don't put your feet in I don't understand you understand no no no no no you drive a CDL you have a CDL yeah can you speak English put your feet in the car you're not helping your situation and then you're going to lie and say you don't speak English when I've been talking to you in English all night list listen listen who's lcia muting for personal conversation after handcuffing Mr Castro and placing him in a police vehicle officer Thornton muted his body camera for more than 7 Minutes police officers can mute body cameras for a period of time depending on the situation and there is no law against it and it is not a criminal offense in another matter the search of Mr Castro's truck potentially violated the Fourth Amendment as the Supreme Court ruled in a precedent setting case warrantless searches of vehicles are only permitted when the the arrested person is unsafe and within reach of the vehicle this exception does not apply because Mr costro was handcuffed in the squad car inventory searches of seized Vehicles should not be used to search for incriminating evidence Mr Castro's vehicle was not seized no inventory was taken and the search with the dog suggests that they were looking for evidence therefore the search likely violated the Fourth Amendment right looking for Save are between certain times up in the pr area right we're working with plain closed detectives checking suspicious cars people parked out across the street Lookouts Etc one of our detectives comes across a box truck like a rental box truck from Enterprise one of the big ones parked out behind some bushes off on a little Private Drive that goes to nothing off of the the main road right he pulls in sees that the driver door is open okay doesn't approach calls for us cuz we're in uniform we're in a market control car we roll up we start walking up and I say hey you know what let's see if somebody's in there let's call out maybe somebody's in there they'll come out so we don't you know get ambushed so call her out hey you in the vehicle show me your hands come out somebody answers up so now we know there's for sure somebody in the truck right Spanish English so I order him out in Spanish he keeps yelling no no no I'm not doing anything no no no then he starts saying that we're not the police right so I go back to the patrol car activate all the red and blue lights I have on my police car get on the PA system San Antonio police you need to come out of the car the detective has gone around the side of the truck clearly visible to the AP shows him his badge vest police on his vest okay another officer gets here oh he's making a phone call he's calling uh 911 911 is telling him those are the police you need to get out of the truck still not getting out of the truck we get another officer here we go to approach the truck at this point and he's poked his head out a few times and made eye contact with me he knew I was the police I have no doubt in my mind he knows I'm the police tell him hey get out of the truck he says no no no no no he's not getting out of the truck immediately we grab on to him he starts grab oh and at one point when we were ordering him out of the truck he turns the vehicle on like he's going to drive away so we all pull way back cuz we don't want to get ran over by this big truck uh I get the truck turned off we get him out um he's still not putting his hands behind his back still not complying with orders So eventually we end up taking him to the ground and getting him handcuffed now he he says that he's here doing deliveries from Dallas he has a CDL commercial driver's license so he's knows what to do when he stopped by the police okay uh but we don't have anything besides the resisting search on him would you take that we're being told that you wouldn't take a just a straight resisting search without an actual charge okay that's fine with me I mean I really don't feel like taking this guy to jail he's just an idiot and I think he was he knew we were the police but he still didn't want to cooperate with us so I think we'll just s him and then we'll just kick him loose the only thing is because we had to take him to the ground and if we would have got to the truck if if we when we were at this the door of the truck we didn't immediately grab onto him and try to yank him we're like hey dude come out of the truck and he still didn't come out of the truck we're the police you got to listen to us you tell them they cancel it okay we will SP him and file it at large and see what happens all right yeah thanks for all your help thanks bye so she was she said that we don't have PC to search him we don't have PC to search somebody that's in a suspicious place at I said suspicious person suspicious place in a suspicious time in an area where the mo for the burglars is to use big box trucks to take ATMs and other safes and then go out to these abandoned places CU what did we just recover the other safes from from the the other ATMs out here same thing right they were in a stolen truck told her all of that now he didn't just going cuz he's got no looking at it he just looks like he was pushing y away he didn't go no he didn't like to kill us but he did grab back on I he grabbed onto the wheel okay is he all we got to make sure he's coherent enough to yeah to operate he is I mean he told me I was out I was out and then we can cover ourselves with that and I agree that he was out for about maybe the first minute we were out here for a while but we were out here for a long time and the fact that he got he was coherent enough to dial 911 yeah and talk to them and talk to them and the 911 operator is telling him sir they are the police you need to get out of the truck and he's still not and then I was cool all the way up to the point where we approached the truck and me and King and Kim are standing there in front of him understand we been Justified to quote unquote shoot the guy right so if we we'd be justified to do that then we are in the right place at the right time doing a lawful Duty how can we not book him I go with that as long as you call Da is that the on who's going to in there like that for me please I will because I don't want this guy coming back and suing anybody that's my thing is what's the rule they go use the force they got to go to jail or the hospital for Ed or but if you ask P him and you still file it and then it's on them not on us you know what so I will leave a copy on your desk and we will file it at large no you know what we could do and it's going to be up to the sge there you can go to the judge you don't have to go to the DA the officers found nothing illegal in Mr Castro's vehicle and no evidence that could incriminate him approximately 1 hour later officer Thornton met with the assistant district attorney who informed him that there was no probable cause for the search and that no charges would be filed against Mr Castro officer Thornton then returned to his vehicle to release Mr Castro come here sir you want to go to jail today huh do you want to go to jail or do you want to go about your day in your life you're the boss I you're the boss I can't do nothing sir you you do whatever what you want I do my job I want I'm doing my job you want to talk about doing jobs I was doing my job protecting the citizens of San Antonio and their property tonight apologizing for maybe got a nervous a lot but uh what I do is my job deliver that's what I do uhhuh and what's my job I I understand that the other police say he say you looking for somebody but I don't know you don't know right you don't know all you know is that we're the police and what do you do when the police contact you exactly what they say when they say it how they say it correct yes or no yeah but no no no no but it's a yes or no you're talking yourself into going to jail I got scar I got a scared when somebody when somebody got a gun like that you know it's scary so you saw that I had a gun and I was the police I saw I saw another side somebody shooting because they they want to nobody shoot nobody shot anything no guns were fired out here apologizing for that but I tell you when never never police do that never never I really want to take him to jail Carl no listen I apologize judge do it God beli you because because you do your job Budd God God pleas you okay B and just make sure he knows that my real problem is when that there's three policemen at his door he still won't come out of the damn truck I don't understand what he didn't understand about that part of it you were told what to do before you ever saw a gun don't give me that crap okay there's a case that's going to be filed on most likely so if I were you I'd start trying to brush up on your law because we're also going to contact the DPS about your your commercial driver's license you understand that there's a chance that your license you're held to a higher standard than most people his license yeah I got all this stuff after being released Mr Castro went to the hospital for injuries from the officer's use of force including pain swelling and visible trauma on his hands he testified that the ENC counter caused him mental and emotional distress nightmares and physical pain affecting his personal and professional life on August 28th 2020 he filed a federal lawsuit against officers Corey Thornton carala and King for excessive force unreasonable seizure unreasonable search failure to intervene and unreasonably prolonged search and seizure The District Court granted the officers qualified immunity for the initial seizure but denied it for the prolonged arrest truck search excessive force and failure to intervene the officers appealed on April 11th 2024 the fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the denial for the prolonged arrest but upheld it for the other claims they ruled the search was unjustified and the use of force excessive the case was returned to the district court and is pending