Father Arrested For Theft After Taking Daughter's Phone Vindicated

Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter

GRAND PRAIRIE (CBSDFW.COM) - Arrested on a theft charge for disciplining his daughter by taking her cell phone away, a North Texas father said "justice" was finally served.

Ronald Jackson was arrested by Grand Prairie police after investigators attempted to retrieve the phone, but were never successful in their efforts.

A judge at the Dallas County Courthouse found Jackson not guilty on Tuesday, citing a lack of evidence to move forward with the case.

Jackson said in 2013 when his daughter was 12, he discovered a text that he found rude on her phone regarding another woman. He took the phone away to teach her a lesson. "I was being a parent. You know, a child does something wrong, you teach them what's right," said Jackson. "You tell them what they did wrong and you give them a punishment to show that they shouldn't be doing that."

But when Jackson's ex-wife found out, whose spouse is a Grand Prairie police officer, the cops were called to get the phone from Jackson. He refused. Around 2 a.m., Jackson got a knock on his door, and soon he found himself in handcuffs, heading to jail.

"I didn't want the police department telling me how to parent my child. It made no sense to me for them to show up and make a big deal out of something that was a small thing," said Jackson. "I couldn't believe they would go to this extent for a cell phone. It didn't seem right."

Jackson was release from jail after posting $1,500 bail.

A year-and-a-half later though, a warrant was issued and Jackson was charged with misdemeanor theft. The North Texas father said he couldn't believe it.  "Why would you need to go arrest somebody for something like that? Don't you have better things to do as a police officer? Aren't there bigger crimes in the city to go take care of?"

But a Dallas County judge would have the final say. Judge Lisa Green ruled that there wasn't enough evidence to prove theft had occurred and found Jackson not guilty.

Jackson's ex-wife said the phone was not his property to take in the first place. If he had just returned the phone from the beginning, his ex-wife said none of this would have happened. But apparently the judge disagreed, because Jackson also got to keep the confiscated phone.

(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)