Hudson says officers threw him to the ground during New Year’s Eve incident on Cedar Springs
DAVID TAFFET | taffet@dallasvoice.com
Will Hudson never expected the simple purchase of a hot dog from a pushcart vendor on Cedar Springs to result in facial injuries and a night in jail.
On New Years Eve, Hudson and two friends did what they thought was the responsible thing to do. They rented a room at the nearby Holiday Inn on Harry Hines Boulevard and walked to the bars. After partying on the strip, they planned to take a quick cab ride back to their hotel.
The 23-year-old Drury College senior was in town visiting his parents during the winter break.
At about 10 p.m., before going into any of the bars, Hudson and his friend, Robert Fuggity of Houston, ordered a hotdog from Smoky Joe’s, a pushcart vendor that often sets up in front of S4 on Cedar Springs Road. The vendor prepared a hotdog and Hudson handed him a credit card.
Hudson said that the vendor immediately became agitated and said that he did not accept credit cards. So Fuggity said he would go to the ATM to get cash. The closest one is directly across the street outside the Round-Up Saloon.
Instead, Hudson said, the vendor called over nearby police. Hudson, who is 5-foot, 3-inches and weighs 130 pounds, said he was thrown to the ground, resulting in bruising to his face, including his cheek, ear and forehead. He and Fuggity were taken into custody for public drunkenness. They were transported to the City Detention Center downtown, a facility better known as “detox.”
Police may take someone into custody for public drunkenness if that person is suspected of being a danger to himself or others and can then hold that individual for six to 12 hours.
Hudson said that police did not do a sobriety test or take blood, nor did they offer to do either.
Hudson said he and his friend were held for 10 hours and released.
Both Hudson and Fuggity were given citations to appear in magistrate court. If they paid the $394 fine, the public drunkenness charge would remain on their record.
Dallas police LGBT liaison Officer Laura Martin said it was unlikely, but not impossible, that Dallas police would have been on foot on Cedar Springs at that hour. She suggested that instead, security guards employed by the bars answered the street vendor’s call and, after pushing Hudson to the ground, called police. Patrol cars were in the area all evening, Martin said.
According to the city of Dallas office for restaurant inspections, Smoky Joes does have a permit and permission to sell hot dogs on Cedar Springs.
Cedar Springs Merchants Association President Scott Whittall, who owns Buli, said that Smoky Joe’s is not a member of the retail group.
Rick Espaillat at Caven Enterprises, which operates S4 and several other bars in the area, said his company is not affiliated with the hot dog vendor, who operates on city-owned sidewalks, not on Caven property.
No contact information was available for Smoky Joe’s to get a comment for this story.
Adam Seidel, a Dallas attorney who represents Chad Gibson, the man injured in the 2009 Rainbow Lounge Raid in Fort Worth, said, “The events described by Mr. Hudson would make this level of force totally unjustifiable and excessive.”
He said that he looked forward to comparing Hudson’s version with that of the officers.
“How much of a danger am I for a $4 hot dog?” Hudson asked. He wondered why that level of force was used, especially since his friend had offered to run across the street and get the cash.
“Sometimes these cases are dismissed, but usually only after the officer fails to appear to testify at trial,” Seidel said. “Either way, public intoxication is a criminal offense, which, if not handled correctly, can result in a lifetime conviction on a person’s record.”
Hudson tried to get a copy of his arrest record. On Wednesday, Jan. 5, he went to Dallas police headquarters in The Cedars, but no records could be provided. Martin said there isn’t normally written documentation for a simple public intoxication arrest.
On Thursday, Jan. 6, Hudson went to court to answer the citation. He was given a sentence of time served and had to pay no court costs.
The arrest remains on his record, however. His request for deferred adjudication was denied.
Because of the facial abrasions, Martin said her lieutenant was trying to contact Hudson. Assistant Chief Vincent Golbeck referred the case to Internal Affairs. They’re interested in speaking to anyone else who witnessed the incident.
Hudson is considering pursuing legal action as a result of his injuries.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition January 7, 2011.
Best of luck to you, Will. Hope you stand up for yourself and fight this. They were totally out of line.
If they never took blood, how can they prove he was intoxicated? Sounds like someone with a badge was having a bad night. Here we go….
Most people are afraid of the police and really, why should we have to be afraid of the people who are supposed to protect us? The police in Texas are Nazis only because they have been allowed and encouraged to be Nazis. Its time for it to stop.
@Lil’ Carl In most jurisdictions a Public Intox arrest is an officer judgment call and no field sobriety or blood tests are required. I can’t speak for Texas law as I don’t know for sure. The officer simply states that the actor (suspect, person arrested, etc) was behaving in a manner that led him to believe said individual was not acting in a sober and sane manner and was therefore a risk to himself or others. Yeah, this makes it a ‘catch-all’ charge that can be easily abused by some police officers.
@ AJ Please don’t throw the “Nazi” term around so loosely. If you have seen, really seen as I have the monstrous crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Nazis you would understand how such a comparison trivializes what the Nazis did. I have a fairly close Norwegian relative who was captured by the Nazis for being part of the Resistance and sent to a camp in Poland. I’ve heard his stories, and I’ve seen some of the death camps.
UPDATE: Will contacted me today and said that Lt. Ashford of DPD called him today. Ashford is helping Will file his complaint with Internal Affairs. Laura Martin also assured us that the matter is being taken very seriously. Of concern are the facial injuries — how they occurred and who caused them.
The events surrounding Mr. Hudson’s injuries are unfortunate and regrettable. The Dallas Police Department takes all citizen complaints seriously and will investigate this incident in the same serious manner. Until the completion of this investigation, the department will not speculate as to what may have occurred New Year’s Eve involving Mr. Hudson. I am asking those who are concerned about this incident to allow the investigative process to determine what occurred. In the mean time, the Dallas Police Department and I will keep the GLBT community and the community as a whole informed.
My supervisor, Lieutenant Herbert Ashford has talked with Mr. Hudson and informed him of the complaint process. Assistant Chief Vincent Golbeck has already referred this matter to the Internal Affairs Division and they will further investigate this incident upon receiving Mr. Hudson’s written complaint. If anyone has any information about the incident that can assist the police department in its investigation, please feel free to reach me by email at laura.martin@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us or you may contact Lt. Ashford by email at herbert.ashford@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us
I’ve heard about several other incidents people have had with this hot dog vendor calling the police on bar patrons leaving the bar. It’s ironic that the vendor doesn’t have a permit to sell on Cedar Springs, but the person punished was the customer for not producing cash instead of credit card. It’s also suspect that Will Hudson’s alleged intoxication is not an issue until the hot dog vendor can’t receive cash payment immediately. If he was really intoxicated and “is suspected of being a danger to himself or others” as the police say, then why is it only a problem when he doesn’t produce what is considered adequate cash to the satisfaction of a local merchant? Someone not spending enough money to satisfy local merchants does not constitute “a danger to himself or others.” Additionally, all arrests should involve paperwork. If it can’t be produced, evidence of guilt isn’t being made and charges should not be made. I think we should all be ready to video record on our phones incidents involving the police that we see on Cedar Springs. Maybe that would keep those involved honest.
Further more, I haven’t been into a bar on the strip since the Rainbow Lounge incident. It’s a shame, because Caven in particular has some really nice bars that I enjoyed frequenting from time to time in the past. I have to wager whether or not I can afford to get roughed up by the police or the TABC like what I read about in the papers. I’ve just stopped going although I wish I could. Coincidentally, there’s irony in the fact that this young man was arrested on the pretext that he could be “a danger to himself or others” and the person featured in the photo with the injuries after being “arrested” is him.
AJ and Evan,
You’ve been watching FOX, CNN and HLN too much. Your paranoid miscomprehension of news reports is frightening.
Alan, You’re a troll and I don’t watch FOX, CNN or
HLN. Go find a hobby outside of attacking people, like
reading.
Thank you for writing a professional article and update
without tabloid sensationalism and personal bias injected. Please
continue to keep us updated.
Actually, the vendor DOES have a permit to sell on Cedar Springs. If there are other incidents involving this vendor, however, I’d like to hear about them. Please contact me at the office on Monday.
Ok….let me see if I get this right…..They asked for a
hot dog and didn’t have any money to pay for it….then the police
just came over and started slamming them to the ground…….is
that what happend?…..really?
just a slow news day
preppystudent, if you think alleged police brutality against a LGBT is a “slow news day”, you are probably not the brightest student in the school.
Actually we have very supportive officers working the OakLawn/Uptown area. I agree with Ofc Martin, it would be very unlikely to have a police officer within arms length on Cedar Springs without calling them in advance. I’m very sorry that a visitor or anyone in our city would be unjustly injured however is it possible that the first “officer” on the scene was that from the Security company that works that area of OakLawn. From the account of the incident, it sounds like the complaintant hadnt’ even been to the bar yet however were they drinking prior to arriving, its also possible the complainant may have low blood sugar which sometime makes people appear as under the influence. Do we know what police officer responded to the call and what time they arrived? Who is investigating with the Security company employees?
I’m baffled. While the events certainly sound like something the Dallas police officers would do (i. e. throw the person to the ground, kick him to the curb and ask questions later…perhaps), everyone seems to concur that the patrol officers were not around at the time and had to be called. (And I’m sure they responded promptly…once they finished their coffee and donuts). As far as the Caven security, I can’t imagine them being that brutal, particularly in defense of a street vendor who is not affiliated with their organization. And Internal Affairs? They’ll pat the offending officer on the back (if there *IS* an offending officer) and put him right back out on the street. If you hang in that area and want protection you need to buy a gun and get a license to carry. You can always call the police and file a report later.
There’s a piece of the story missing. Did the results come back that he actually was intoxicated? Had he been drinking before arriving at his hotel or another place? A vendor selling hotdogs for a profit would not call the police if a customer was headed to an ATM to get his money. I’m sure he gets people wanting to pay with a card happens pretty often. So, I’ll wait till the rest of the story comes out before making any judgements against the police.
If this happened around 10 PM, Cedar Springs was littered with Police NYE as some girl was hit by a car in the street.