(Audio Correction: Incident Occurred at 11:50 pm NOT 1:50 pm as stated)
At approximately 11:50 p.m. on July 6th officers were investigating a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot of a business in the 6400 block of Garth Road. As the officers approached the vehicle the driver, Kedric Crawford, immediately exited the vehicle at which time officers made contact with him. During the initial contact Mr. Crawford provides his name and date of birth to the officers who then conduct a computer check of him. While waiting for the returns officers talk with Mr. Crawford about the reason for the contact. During that conversation the officers ask for consent to search Crawford’s vehicle, which Crawford grants. As one of the officers searches the vehicle the other officer continues to talk with Mr. Crawford, whose demeanor changes as he becomes increasingly nervous even though officers are being polite and cordial. At one point the officer searching the vehicle locates several small pieces of plastic bag, each of which contained several pills. Recognizing this to be consistent with narcotics packaged for sale, officers attempted to place Mr. Crawford in handcuffs at which time Mr. Crawford began resisting by pulling away from the officer, who was able to only get one handcuff on Mr. Crawford. Officers pressed Mr. Crawford against his vehicle to try to gain control of Mr. Crawford considering he was not complying, actively resisting and now had one handcuff on, which created a dangerous situation for the officers. A struggle ensued during which the officers took Mr. Crawford to the ground, again to attempt to gain control of him, while calling for assistance from other officers. Mr. Crawford continued to resist and fail to comply with the officers commands. This resulted in the officers deploying their department issue Taser, which was ineffective as Mr. Crawford continued to resist and refused to comply with officers instructions, pulling his arms away from officers and refusing to place his hands behind his back so officers could handcuff him. Due to Mr. Crawford’s persistent resistance, and the fact that the Taser failed to momentarily incapacitate Mr. Crawford, one of the officers delivered a series of elbow strikes and a closed fist strikes to Mr. Crawford’s head area in an attempt to disorient him so they could get him into custody. With the help of other officers who arrived on scene they were finally able to get Mr. Crawford into custody. Officers contacted the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and advised them of the facts of the case at which time charges of Assault on a Public Servant were accepted on Mr. Crawford. Mr. Crawford was transported to Ben Taub Hospital where he was treated for apparent facial injuries prior to being transported back to Baytown where he was booked into the Baytown Jail.
Lieutenant Steve Dorris
Criminal Investigations Division
Baytown Police Department
3200 N. Main
Baytown Texas 77521
Office: 281-420-6617
FBINA 275TH Session