Family reviews police video as Royse City officer faces investigation after pool confrontation
The family involved in a viral video showing a confrontation with Royse City police was allowed to review dash‑camera and body‑camera footage from the incident for the first time Thursday.
One officer is now under investigation after the encounter at a neighborhood pool that led to arrests, allegations of excessive force, and calls for his firing.
As the family left the police department, several women were in tears. Attorneys representing the alleged victims said the footage is among the most "egregious" police videos they have seen.
"This is probably one of the worst videos I have seen in 12 years," said Minister Dominique Alexander, an activist and CEO of the Next Generation Action Network. "We would not be here today if an officer did not say to another officer, 'We're going to follow them and get their name, so we can trespass them.'"
The more than hour‑long video – which CBS News Texas has not viewed – shows what led up to the social media clip of an officer pulling a woman by the hair and other officers pushing a woman and a child. The incident happened last week at the Creekside community pool after police responded to a disturbance call. Janiaca Wheeler, Amaiyah Allen‑Smith, and two unnamed victims live in the community. The women did not speak to the media after watching the footage.
Alexander said the video includes an officer saying, "Hit her, taze her, slam her to the ground, punch the girl in the mouth."
What attorneys say happened next
Attorneys Blerim Elmazi and Sean Daredia said that after officers cleared the disturbance call, the family began leaving the area. They said one woman stepped into the road, prompting an officer to grab her, accuse her of jaywalking, and take her to the ground. They said the officer at the center of the investigation – whom CBS News Texas is not naming – is a training officer with the department.
"The whole room was in tears. It was terrifying. It was absolutely disgusting," Daredia said. "The names – I don't even want to say them because you won't be able to play it. He treated them like inhuman animals. We can't have that. When he puts Ms. Wheeler in the vehicle, he said, 'Go around, pull her by the hair and put her in.'"
CBS News Texas asked the department for the body‑camera video and a response to the allegations. The department referred reporters to its original statement. Two of the women were arrested that day, but the charges were later dropped. One officer has been placed on administrative leave while an internal investigation continues.
"An officer like this does not deserve a badge and a gun. He does not deserve to abuse women in this community," Elmazi said. "The video we've all seen captures only part of the interaction, and it certainly doesn't show how egregious this officer's conduct was. This officer needs to be terminated, this officer needs to be charged, and Royse City needs to do better."
The family is demanding that the police department release the body‑camera video publicly.
