A state district judge set bail at $100,000 Tuesday for a former Garland police officer charged with manslaughter, even though prosecutors were willing to accept bail as low as $10,000.
Judge Lena Levario refused to lower the bail for Patrick Tuter, 33, citing public safety as a concern.
Tuter is accused of killing a man when he shot at him 41 times after a high-speed chase in August 2012. When Tuter was charged this week, it was the first time in more than 15 years that a Dallas County grand jury had indicted an officer in a fatal shooting.
The standard bail amount on a manslaughter charge is $25,000, but prosecutors agreed to a $10,000 bail because they didn’t believe Tuter would flee if he posted bond. They said Tuter had been cooperative in the criminal and internal police investigations, as well as in the district attorney’s investigation.
But Levario said she wasn’t worried about whether he would return to court. “I’m concerned about public safety,” she said.
On the night of Aug. 31, 2012, Tuter engaged in a half-hour high-speed police chase in an attempt to catch 25-year-old Michael Vincent Allen, who had a history of run-ins with law enforcement and had fled from Sachse police. The chase ended in a Mesquite cul-de-sac when Tuter’s squad car crashed into Allen’s truck and Tuter opened fire.
Tuter allegedly shot more than 40 times, reloaded twice and emptied three magazines, Levario said. Allen died of his gunshot wounds.
But Levario said Tuter also could have killed others, including a passenger in Allen’s car, a civilian whose home was struck by a bullet and the other police officer on the scene, who sought refuge from the bullets behind his patrol car. Defense attorneys said the other officer was never in any real danger.
Garland police fired Tuter earlier this year after concluding he had violated the department’s use-of-force and pursuit policies. Levario pointed out that he had been reprimanded once before for excessive force. Levario said she set the $100,000 bail with that in mind.
As a condition of bail, Tuter cannot work as a police officer or hold any job that requires him to use a weapon. He was booked into jail Tuesday.
