Powell stopped Moats March 17 after he observed Moats running a red light. Moats was rushing his family to Methodist Medical Center in South Dallas to visit his dying mother-in-law in her last moments. Moats was driving with his emergency flashers on. He stopped at a red light motioned traffic on through and then continued on his way. He did not stop for the officer until they arrived at the hospital. During the stop, Powell acted like a real jerk towards Moats, a running back for the Houston Texans, and his family. The officer even pulled his gun on Moats at one point. What follows is some of the exchange of dialogue that occurred between Moats and Powell:
Moats: You really want to go through this right now? My mother-in-law is dying. Right now! ... I got seconds before she's dying, man!
Powell: If my mom was dying I'd probably be a little upset too, but when I saw flashing red and blues, I would stop.
Moats: Did I not stop at the red light?
Powell: You stopped, then you drove through the red light.
Moats: I stopped, I checked the traffic, I waved the traffic off, then I turned.
Powell: This is not an emergency vehicle. You do not have the right to control the traffic.
Moats: OK. All right ... just go ahead and check my insurance so I can go ahead and go. If you're gonna give me a ticket, give me a ticket. I really don't care, just ...
Powell: Your attitude says that you need one.
Moats: I don't have an attitude. All I'm asking you is just to hurry up. Cause you're standing here talking to me...
Powell: Shut your mouth and listen.
Moats: Shut my mouth? Is that how you talk to me, too?
Powell: Shut your mouth and listen. If you want to keep this going, I'll just put you in handcuffs, and I'll take you to jail for running a red light.
Moats: OK. All right.
Powell: I can do that.
Moats: OK.
Powell: State law says I can.
Moats: Yes, sir. Go ahead.
Powell: If you don't settle down that's what I'm gonna do.
Moats: Yes, sir.
Powell: All right, If you don't settle down, your truck's illegally parked – I'll tow that as well.
Moats: Yes, sir.
Powell: OK, I can screw you over. I'd rather not do that. Your attitude will dictate everything that happens, and right now, your attitude sucks.
Moats: Yes, sir.
Powell: OK, I turned my red and blues on as you were going over the bridge ...
Moats: You think I'm gonna stop when my wife's mother is dying?
Powell: You are required to stop. What you're doing does not matter. Red and blues, you have to stop. I can charge you with fleeing right now.
Moats: Yes, sir. ...
Powell: I can take you to jail. I can tow your truck. I can charge you with fleeing.
Moats: Yes, sir, you can. I understand.
Powell: I can make your night very difficult.
Moats: I hope you'll be a great person and not do that.
Turns out that officer Powell was not a great person. In fact he was and is a disgrace not only to the badge he carries, but also to his entire profession. He detained Moats for 13 minutes. Even after a nurse and another officer verified that Moats' mother-in-law was in fact in her last moments of life and that the hospital had summoned the family there and asked the officer to let him go, Powell continued to detain Moats. As a result, Moats did not make it up to the hospital room to tell his mother-in-law goodbye before she passed.
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle has this to say about the incident: " I am embarrassed and disappointed by the behavior of one of our police officers. His behavior, in my opinion, did not exhibit the common sense, discretion, the compassion that we expect our officers to exhibit.""When we in the command staff reviewed the tapes," Kunkle said, "we were embarrassed, disappointed – it's hard to find the right words and still be professional in my role as a police chief." The chief also praised Moats and his family for how they handled the officer's behavior.
"They exercised extraordinary patience, restraint, dealing with the behavior of our officer," Kunkle said. "At no time did Mr. Moats identify himself as an NFL football player or expect any kind of special consideration. He handled himself very, very well."
Moats was 100 times more professional than Powell in this incident. Chief Kunkle was way too kind in his remarks concerning Powell's behavior when said it lacked common sense and compassion. His actions displayed arrogance, conceit, and idiocy. Chief Kunkle said Powell's actions in this incident and another incident in January that he is being investigated for could be grounds for dismissal.
I would hope so. Justice will be served in this case if Powell is dismissed and has his peace officer's certification revoked. This incident clearly shows that Ryan Moats has more class, dignity, and inegrity in one of his hangnails than Robert Powell has in his whole body. Poetic justice will occur if six months from now Ryan Moats pulls up to a McDonald's drive-thru and is asked "do you want fries with that?" by none other than Robert Powell himself.
My condolences go out to the Moats family and my derision and consternation go out to hopefully soon to be former officer Powell. You should be ashamed of yourself. You protected nothing and served no one in this incident. What a waste of time, money and training.
Jim Chitty
