DEBORAH McKEON
TEMPLE — A Temple police
officer who had been placed on indefinite suspension will appeal his suspension
in a public hearing Wednesday through May 30, City Secretary Lacy Borgeson said
Thursday.
The time for Daniel Amaya’s
hearing has not yet been determined.
Amaya and Officer Jeremy Bales
were both indefinitely suspended in connection with an incident at Wal-Mart in
Temple on May 18, 2013. Lorenzo Martinez, then 15, was waiting in a car for his
girlfriend in the parking lot when he saw what looked like an arrest happening
in the store.
He
went in to watch and, when he was ready to leave, was stopped by officers who
then handcuffed him and threw him to the ground. Lorenzo was allegedly slammed
to the ground a second time, reinjuring the arm he’d already told officers was
hurting, after he refused to clean up a place on the floor where he’d spit.
The
boy was allegedly pulled back and forth over the area until the area was wiped
up and then jerked up by the same arm, which made a popping sound, Martinez
said. His mother took him to Scott & White Hospital emergency room and
doctors confirmed he had a broken collarbone.
Martinez’s mother, Elsa, filed
a complaint May 21, 2013, alleging the officers broke her son’s collarbone and
falsely arrested him.
After a joint Texas Ranger and
Temple Police Department investigation, a Bell County grand jury no billed the
case. At that point, an internal investigation by Temple Police Department
began.
The report showed Amaya was
indefinitely suspended Nov. 13 for allegedly violating Civil Service Commission
Rule 51.02, which names the grounds for disciplinary suspensions.
Those grounds listed in Police
Chief Gary Smith’s memorandum to Amaya were:
Neglect of duty, including
bringing discredit to the department.
Acts showing lack of good moral
character, including violation of a state or federal statute.
Conduct prejudicial to good
order.
Violation of any applicable
fire or police department rule or special order, the city of Temple personnel
policies and procedures manual, city charter or any ordinance of the city of
Temple.
Specific violations mentioned
were the failure to activate the in-car camera or pocket recorder as required
by general orders, unnecessary use of force and failure to photograph Martinez’s
injury, draft a memo detailing the incident and to forward both documents to
his supervisor.
“Based on the reasons stated
above, I conclude that you are unable to follow the department’s rules and that
any previous intermediate disciplinary measures have been ineffective. It is,
therefore, in the best interest of the Temple Police Department and the
community that we are sworn to protect that you be indefinitely suspended from
service as a police officer,” Smith wrote.
Deputy City Attorney Nan
Rodriguez will represent the Temple Police Department and Brad Heilman, an
Austin attorney with Keel & Nassour LLP, will represent Amaya.
The hearing for Bales has not
yet been scheduled, Borgeson said. Bales’ attorney and the city attorneys are
in the process of selecting a hearing examiner.
David Fernandez Jr., the
attorney handling Martinez’s civil lawsuit against Amaya and Bales, said
Martinez hasn’t been called yet to testify at the hearing.
Amaya’s hearing will be open to
the public, but cameras or any other recording devices will not be allowed in
the room.
