GALVESTON —Two men allege they were illegally detained by a Texas City employee.
Zane Sweetin of Harris County and Michael Stefek of Galveston County filed a complaint July 15 in the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas against the city of Texas City and Wendell Wylie, alleging violation of the Fourth and 14th Amendments and false imprisonment.
According to the complaint, Wyle was appointed as emergency medical services (EMS) administrator of Texas City in 2015. The suit alleges Wylie approached the owner of Windsor EMS for a paid position but was turned down and in early 2017, Windsor EMS' permit to operate in Texas City was improperly revoked by Wylie.
Following the permit revocation by Wylie, Windsor EMS allegedly stopped operations and vacated its storefront inside city limits. On July 14, 2017, the suit states, Windsor EMS received a direct call from Seabreeze Nursing and Rehabilitation, requesting patient transport, to which Stefak and Sweetin responded.
The plaintiffs say they were confronted by Wylie while transferring the patient, who sought to block their ambulance from exiting the parking lot. Wylie allegedly detained the plaintiffs for 10-20 minutes while trying to get information about the patient whom they were transporting and finally allowed them to leave.
Upon transfer of the patient, the suit alleges, Wylie again confronted Sweetin and Stefek and told them they were being detained and were not allowed to leave the scene until the fire marshal arrived. The plaintiffs were finally allowed to leave after the fire marshal arrived.
Sweetin and Stefek seek trial by jury, attorney fees, actual damages, interest, court costs, punitive damages and all other just relief. They are represented by attorney Randall L. Kallinen of Kallinen Law P in Houston.
Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas case number 3:19-CV-233