Nine Galveston PD officers suspended

Galveston Police Department tells us nine officers have been suspended as a result of a scuffle at the San Luis Hotel:

On October 6th, 2008, Chief Charles Wiley initiated an internal investigation into issues related to an incident that occurred at the San Luis Hotel bar, H2O, during the early morning hours of October 5th, 2008. The events that led to, and resulted from, the incident have been investigated through a joint effort of the Galveston Police Department and the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office.

Over the past five months, investigators of both agencies have interviewed approximately 70 witnesses, suspects, and officers about this incident. Hundreds of pages of documentation have been produced, collected, and examined. Video recordings have been recovered and reviewed multiple times, all in effort to piece together an accurate account of the events as they transpired that night.

The investigation by the Police Department's Office of Professional Standards was performed by Sergeant Raymond Rubio, Sergeant David Millican and Sergeant Aaron Ausmus. The investigation has been focused on compliance with Police Department policies and procedures. Notably, there has been no formal complaint alleging misconduct of any type against a single Galveston Police Department officer relating to this incident.

This comprehensive review has revealed that this incident, and the resulting arrests, was instigated by the actions of a single individual. This individual exercised extremely poor judgment and, if he had been properly supervised by his parents and not allowed to violate the law, this incident likely could have been avoided in its entirety.

The investigation has revealed that Daniel Cole O’Balle, 19 years of age, attended his sister's wedding at the San Luis Convention Center. During the reception, Daniel was, in violation of Texas law, permitted to consume alcoholic beverages to the point of becoming highly intoxicated.

Toward the end of the reception, O'Balle instigated a confrontation with San Luis Security Guard Carlos Gonzales during which O'Balle attempted to take beer from the convention center, also in violation of the law. Later, Gonzales observed O'Balle at the H2O bar with a beer in his hand. Gonzales reported this illegal activity to Galveston Police Department Officer Chris Sanderson, who was working for the San Luis Hotel in an off-duty capacity.

Officer Sanderson confronted O'Balle, who was immediately belligerent. Friends of O'Balle's parents, Joseph and Shannon Belluomini then interfered, in Officer Sanderson’s investigation, in an apparent attempt to keep O'Balle from being arrested. The investigation reveals that O'Balle was being aggressive toward, and non-compliant with, Officer Sanderson.

Officer Sanderson called for assistance and waited for other officers to arrive before taking further action. In the interim, O'Balle's drunken and disorderly actions and behavior caused several people, who were with the wedding party, to gather around Officer Sanderson. When Officers Clemente Garcia and Jonathon Longoria arrived and attempted to place O'Balle in custody, O'Balle fought the officers aggressively, throwing punches at the officers, while the Belluomini’s and others continued to interfere with O'Balle's arrest.

In light of O'Balle's active physical resistance to arrest, including his attack on the officers present as well as the interference of the Belluomini’s and others, the officers involved made several radio calls seeking additional assistance. In light of these calls for assistance, describing the large crowd and interference by so many individuals, approximately thirty police officers responded to assist by the time officers were able to overcome O'Balle's resistance, and the interference of several others, to take O'Balle into custody.

As these assisting officers arrived and made it to the location of O'Balle's arrest, they were confronted by numerous individuals, some of whom were interfering with O'Balle's arrest and some verbally expressing their displeasure at the officers' decision to arrest him. This group was encroaching on the scene and some refused to disperse to the point that they were interfering with the officers' ability to safely take O'Balle into custody. Officers arrested those individuals who interfered with the officers' attempts to subdue and arrest O'Balle or others.

When Lieutenant Joel Caldwell arrived, he determined that the crowd was so out of control that it was necessary to clear the bar to re-establish order. Accordingly, Lt. Caldwell ordered a tactical crowd control line was formed to clear the bar. As officers instructed people to leave the bar, more individuals, some of whom were intoxicated, became belligerent and refused to leave when asked to do so. Those individuals who refused to leave peaceably or were otherwise disorderly, and those who appeared to officers to be intoxicated, were taken into custody for their violations. In all, thirteen individuals were arrested for various crimes.

The Police Department's investigators have reported that insufficient and inadequate reporting by those involved made their review and investigation into this matter difficult and more time-consuming. To some extent, this was related to a lack of documentation from the officers and supervisors involved which the investigators have reported is unacceptable. The investigators identified several failures by some officers and supervisors to properly file affidavits, supplemental reports, booking reports, use of force reports and arrest warrants.

However, the investigators also determined that these paperwork failures, all of which occurred after the incident and related arrests, did not cause or contribute to the events in question or lead to any improper conduct by any officer in their responses to the situation presented by O'Balle and the others who were arrested.

The investigators were able to determine that all arrests appeared to be based upon probable cause and that any force used by any officer was that used to overcome resistance or interference. No officer was found to have violated any Departmental policies related to any arrest or any use of force.

Because the internal investigation found 13 officers in violation of various administrative procedures of the Galveston Police Department relating to their obligations to document various matters after the incident and related arrests, nine officers will be suspended, four will receive written reprimands, and all thirteen officers will receive remedial training relating to documentation and reporting in accordance with Departmental policies.

At this time, nine officers have received or will receive suspensions ranging from 2 to 7 days, resulting in a total of about forty days of suspension time as a result of this incident.

The below list is a summary of the disciplinary actions without names:

2 ofc's received 7 day suspensions
3 ofc's received 5 day suspensions
1 ofc received a 3 day suspension
1 ofc received a 2 day suspension
1 ofc received a 1 day suspension
For a total of 35 days without pay.

One officer has received a written reprimand with three more reprimands yet to be issued. One other officer, who is on vacation, is facing suspension.

Comments

[mezeus]

What the hell happened to O'Balle?

[ggg123]

So now officers are being punished for trying to gain control of an obviously out of control crowd. That guy was not even of drinking age. Outrageous

[Don]

Is this the same fight in which Astro's pitcher Brandon Backe was arrested? Why wasn;t his name mentioned in the report?

[bayhawk]

What happened to Oballe?His Uncle was the Judge and his cousins Brother n' Law was the Chief.No wait.I'm thinking of Liberty County.They are all in the paper ,it's getting confusing on what crooks are where.

[cdsmith]

If they are being punished for not completing the proper paperwork then I have no problem with it. If the proper paper work is not done then the charges cannot goe through properly and the courts have to dismiss the charges. If you are going to do it then do it right. I'm all for the cops and it sounds like they were trying to get a bunch of drunks under control.

[Lenexa50]

Ironic how the report turned away from O'Balle and focused on the officers who were only attempting to do the right thing. Underage drinking is a huge problem and one that will never go away. Although the officers were partly to blame for not completing the necessary paperwork and complying with departmental policies, it appears the investigation revealed that all 13 arrests made that night were lawful arrests and those 13 individuals will have to answer for their conduct. It would be nice to know what charges were filed against O'Balle and the outcome of those charges.

[Dana]

ok I looked up Brandon Backe thinking maybe his real name is O'Balle or something b/c the news story makes a BIG deal out of Brandon getting arrested so I thought he might have been the one causing trouble. I found a story in the Seattle times and it tells a different story. But for those wondering about Brandon he was one of the 13 arrested along with O'Balle. It stated in the other paper two people were tasered and O'Balle hit the officer in the chest with a beer bottle and another cop in the face. So I guess unless you were there you are not going to know the truth.

[Zach]

YOU GUYS ARE TOTALLY MISSING THE PICTURE (EXCEPT FOR ONE PERSON)

The reprimands and suspensions are coming because there was gross negligence on the part of GPD to file proper paperwork which would have also contributed to a smoother investigation. The threat of litigation along with bad paperwork is a very big deal for the department.

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ARREST PROCEDURES, BACKE, OR O'BALLE!

Jeez bunch of dumb bayou people...

[Neel]

Texas law states that if the Legal Guardian is the one serving the minor under said guardians supervision then its perfectly legal for a minor to drink. The issue was that he was trying to bring in a drink from another establishment and was drunk and disorderly. Officer Sanderson just asked him to throw the beer away and go to his room.

[mike myers]

fuck oballe GPD BABY!