Dallas Woman Frustrated By Long Investigation

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Joyce Williams arrived home to find a Dallas police officer at her door. Her ex-boyfriend had asked police to stand by, so he could safely remove some of his belongings. "She never asked him to put his key in the door. She never asked him to show a piece of mail," said Williams.

While he was allowed in though, Williams said that the officer put her in handcuffs for objecting. "I screamed and I cried and I kept saying, 'That's not his! That's not his! He's taking that!'" she said.

In a police report, the officer wrote that Williams "physically tried pushing past" her, "mouthed off" and acted "very hostile and excited."

"He was just hauling stuff out of here," said Williams.

Williams claims, while the officer watched on, her ex-boyfriend removed a refrigerator, a washer and dryer, televisions, liquor, even her clothes and jewelry. She estimates that she lost more than $11,000 in property. "We have receipts, warranties for everything that was taken out of my house," she said.

The officer's report indicates that she was there for just over 20 minutes.

In a complaint to the Dallas Police Department's Internal Affairs though, Williams claimed that she was detained for three hours while her house was emptied. "My entire life was pulled out from under me in three and a half hours," she said.

A year and a half later, the department said that the Internal Affairs investigation is not yet complete.

Attorney Pete Schulte said that this is not unheard of. "That could take a year or two to work entirely through the appeals," he said.

But, Williams said, she has lost her patience. She wants the officer punished and the city held responsible for everything she lost. "I want to be compensated for all my possessions that were taken. Because I feel like this was nothing but… short of a legalized theft," said Williams.

Bob Gorsky, an attorney whose firm represents the officer, said that the case is nearing a conclusion. Gorsky said that some of the Internal Affairs cases have taken way too long and that it has been a sore point for many officers involved as well.