Officer That Delayed Moats Once Jailed Zach Thomas’ Wife

BasX · Mar 29, 2009

Robert Powell, the Dallas police officer who delayed Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats’ and his family while they were trying to get to the hospital to say goodbye to Moats’ mother-in-law on her deathbed, reportedly detained former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Zach Thomas’ wife on traffic violations last year for five hours.

In the wake of Powell being rebuked and placed on administrative leave for his misconduct toward the Moats family that was captured on video, Maritza Thomas came forward to discuss her run-in with Powell, telling her story to Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News.

Pulled over in 2008 for an illegal U-turn, Thomas was given five tickets by Powell with four of them later dismissed. And she was handcuffed and taken to jail. There is no video of the incident.

“This in no way compares to what happened to Ryan Moats and his family,” Thomas told the Morning News. “But we wanted to tell our story, not knowing how many others have been affected by Officer Powell. We know the vast majority of the Dallas police force are good and professional people, but this guy just seems excessive.”

Ultimately, the following charges were dismissed against Zach Thomas’ wife: not having a registration sticker, improper address on a driver’s license, running a stoplight, and failure to display proof of insurance.

A deferred adjudication was assessed on the U-turn ticket, and Thomas’ record will be cleared in April.

“This situation never should’ve happened,” said Maritza Thomas’ attorney, Brody Shanklin. “Unless extraordinary circumstances exist, no person should be arrested for a Class C citation. In this case, it was an example of Officer Powell being overzealous and exerting his authority in a manner that he never should have.”

Powell’s lawyer, Bob Gorsky, questioned why Thomas is speaking out now following the incident with Moats.

“After her arrest, she may have mentioned that her husband was a football player, but that played no role in her arrest or the disposition of the case,” Gorsky said. “I do understand that an arrest on multiple traffic charges happens often and is absolutely proper under these circumstances. Often, when there are multiple charges, an arrest made and bond posted, some of the charges from a single event are later dropped.”
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http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/03/29/officer-that-delayed-moats-once-jailed-zach-thomas-wife/

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