AUSTIN – A Beaumont attorney recently pursued legal action in response to the 2015 shooting at a Waco Twin Peaks, Austin federal court records show.
Brent Coon of the law firm Brent Coon & Associates last month filed a lawsuit on behalf of Travis County residents Jim Albert Harris and Juan Carlos Garcia and Hays County residents Bonar Crump, Jr. and Drew King, alleging the men were wrongfully arrested in the event in question on May 17, 2015.
The suit implicates many defendants, including, but not limited to, Twin Peaks, the City of Waco, and McLennan County.
Court documents explain that the plaintiffs, who are members of the Grim Guardian Motorcycle Club, “were caught up in a horrific shootout where law enforcement and a few of the patrons engaged in a brutal gun fight, firing hundreds of bullets, killing 9 people and wounding at least 18 others.”
Asserting the GGMC was formed with the purpose of helping children in abusive situations, the original petition says the men went to Twin Peaks unaware of the supposed danger surrounding the establishment.
The complainants reportedly escaped the violence only to be apprehended because they wore leather jackets or rode a motorcycle.
“(The defendants) assumed all were criminals without any evidence or information,” the suit says. “They believed that because these bikers were getting together it had to be for a criminal purpose. They were lazy and sloppy in that they did no investigation to determine what was really happening, who did what, and just generalized that these bikers must all be bad and culpable of something without any facts to support their decision. Any facts contrary to their preconceived notions were discarded automatically.”
Per the plaintiffs, their arrests and subsequent time in custody infringed on their constitutional rights. Prior to the Twin Peaks incident, each man did not possess a criminal record, the complaint says.
A jury trial is requested.
Austin Division of the Western Division of Texas Case No. 1:17-CV-0426