By Tanya Eiserer
Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — A Dallas police officer is likely to be fired as soon as next week after an internal investigation concluded that he repeatedly lied about an incident in which a man was taken to West Dallas, doused with pepper spray and then left there.
A rookie police officer also is facing discipline over not immediately reporting the August 2008 incident to supervisors. The rookie, Officer John Hoover, later told detectives that a third officer had intentionally used pepper spray on the man and they concocted a story that the canister had malfunctioned.
Hoover could not be reached for comment.
Senior Cpl. Antonio Lopez, the 36-year-old officer who may be fired, declined to comment Tuesday, but wrote in a statement to internal investigators: “I was not untruthful while conducting official police business.”
Senior Cpl. Michael Loeb, the 31-year-old officer accused of dousing 19-year-old Michael Reyes with pepper spray, could not be reached for comment. His internal affairs case is pending.
Responding to call
Early on Aug. 26, 2008, Loeb in his patrol car, and Lopez and Hoover in their car responded to a call on Walnut Hill Lane in northwest Dallas in which an elderly man reported that a stranger knocked on his door and demanded money.
The officers found Reyes in the area but decided they didn’t have evidence of a crime and released him.
George Gaytan, a neighbor, wrote in a statement to investigators that Lopez told Reyes, “ ‘If y’all hurt this man or this old man, I’m going to come back and kill you and kill your gang members.’ ”
Lopez wrote that they agreed to give Reyes a ride in the car driven by Hoover. Loeb followed in his patrol car.
Lopez told investigators that Reyes requested that they drop him off at a West Dallas carwash. Once there, Lopez and Loeb told investigators, Loeb’s paper spray canister malfunctioned, and the officers and Reyes were sprayed.
Different account
But Hoover and Reyes gave a different account: Lopez ordered Reyes out of their squad car and threw Reyes’ cellphone and wallet to the ground.
As Lopez and Hoover were leaving, Lopez asked Reyes if he wanted a ride, Hoover said. Reyes responded with an obscene hand gesture. Hoover, the rookie who initially backed up the veteran officers’ account, later told police investigators that as he and Lopez left, he saw Loeb get out of his car.
Hoover told investigators that the other officers turned around and that he then saw Loeb intentionally spray Reyes without provocation.
“I saw the suspect on the ground and Mike with his pepper spray out and a cloud of pepper spray near the suspect,” he wrote. “As we pulled up, the suspect was able to get up and move a few feet before falling back to the ground with Loeb right next to him. Loeb then gave him another spray of pepper spray.”
Loeb then threw the canister at Reyes, Hoover told investigators. Hoover said the officers then left. Reyes walked to a nearby gas station and called 911.
The officers later met up at a convenience store where Loeb and Lopez came up with their account, Hoover said.
“I did not notify a Sgt. of this incident because I was scared and I feared retaliation,” he wrote.
In a written statement, Lopez attributed the difference in the accounts to Hoover’s rookie status: “Rookie officers interpret and see things differently than more mature veteran officers.”
In February, a grand jury declined to indict Loeb and Lopez after Reyes refused to cooperate further.
Copyright 2009 Dallas Morning News