Apartments, police sued over conflict with family at pool

A Texas family is suing over claims they were harassed by police while swimming in an apartment complex pool.

Kelly Tiras, Stedman Wilkins, Dawna Valentine and Stephon Valentine, et al, refiled a lawsuit June 27 in the Galveston County District Court against BSR Trust LLC and Texas City Police Department. 

According to the complaint, the plaintiff family was swimming in the pool of the Windsor Estates complex, owned by BSR Trust LLC, on May 30, 2012, when the complex's courtesy officer ordered them to leave the pool because they did not have wristbands. However the plaintiffs alleged another family without wristbands was also swimming and was allowed to continue doing so.

The plaintiffs say the officer called the police and gave false statements about a member of the plaintiff family acting in a threatening manner. This led to the police becaming unnecessarily aggressive and pointing a taser at Tiras as she held two infants.

The defendants are accused of defamation of character, assault and false arrest.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages in excess of the jurisdictional minimum.

They are appearing pro se.

Galveston County District Court Case No. 14-CV-0707

 

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Galveston County District Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.