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An internal investigation cleared officers Gary Melson, James Grason, Joseph Felan and Cadet Steven Lang of charges they used excessive force.
In June, a grand jury rejected charges Victor Cano, his sister Dalhia Villarreal and their father Santos Cano attacked the four officers.
Police plan to press charges against the family in municipal court, Police Chief Bruce Ure said.
Juanita Cano said her family did not want to comment on the in-car recordings because they didn’t accurately show what happened. The City Council is scheduled to review the videos at tonight’s 5 p.m. meeting.
Police came to Santos and Juanita Cano’s home on the 3000 block of Callis Street on April 11. Victor Cano, 44, and his parents had been attacked by three men, they said.
The videos show portions of the confrontation, although lighting is poor throughout the most revealing part of the tape.
At the start of one tape, paramedics treat Victor Cano for injuries and police question family members.
This is where the inconsistencies begin, according to an investigation memo prepared by Detective Jason Turner.
“The officers at the scene are accused of not following up on the initial complaint,” Turner wrote. “They are said to have made no effort to locate the offenders or take a statement.”
The officers on the video say they won’t talk to Villarreal’s daughter about rumors she heard in school predicting the attack.
“There’s enough adults out there, it was unnecessary to interview a small child,” Ure said. “Now you can hear the lady starting to scream. Then again – she’s just agitating – she’s just hollering, it’s inciting the crowd. The ambulance leaves, and it becomes a much more dangerous scene since there’s so little lighting.”
Written statements by family members also say the fighting began while paramedics treated Cano. The tape shows the scene quickly devolving once the ambulance leaves.
Dim lighting makes it difficult to see exactly what happened amid a knot of people.
Some things are clear, though, said James Martinez, director of Victoria College’s Police Academy.
“I see nothing grossly negligent,” Martinez said. “You have a volatile situation you’re trying to maintain control of.”
According to use of force reports, officers used Tasers and batons to restrain Santos Cano and a Taser to subdue Morris Valentine, a neighbor. Police used the right amount of force to get everyone under control, Ure said.
“I believe the officers responded with the appropriate level of control and force,” Ure said. “I believe they also exercised incredible restraint.”
There’s no textbook answer to how officers should respond in chaotic situations, said Martinez, who was a Victoria officer for more than a decade.
“What goes through your mind like this would fill volumes,” he said. Bystanders running toward the area are the most troubling thing Martinez noticed in the tape, he said, and that likely put the officers on guard.
“You don’t know who they are. You don’t know if they’ve got a weapon and you don’t know what their intentions are,” he said.
Ure did criticize Melson for cursing at Villarreal and calling her stupid.
“Keep in mind, he’s been kicked,” Ure said. “That’s not an excuse, but he corrected himself. He called her a name and that is inappropriate. That’s something we have improved on since this point.”
A witness verified officer’s stories Monday. Villarreal started the scuffle, Mary Ann Alvarez said.
“It was crazy,” said Alvarez, 45, who owns a house nearby. The Canos told police Alvarez caused the original assault.
But Ure said he thinks Alvarez is a credible witness.
“It’s not because she supports what police said,” he said. “We believe she’s credible because her statement is corroborated by the video.”
Leslie Wilber is a reporter for the Victoria Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6521 or e-mail her at lwilber@vicad.com or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.