Notice of complaint related to 2022-0044

NOTICE OF COMPLAINT January 21, 2022 ICMS #: 2022-0044 On January 19, 2022 the OPO received an online complaint. The complainant alleges: Sergeant approached me at a gas station (station unknown, I’m not from Austin), and requested information regarding a wallet that he, for some reason, suspected me of stealing. I told him that I did not have said wallet, and even allowed him to watch me search through my vehicle, which is far more than I should have done. He left me alone afterwards, but not for long; he pulled me over approximately three minutes after I left the gas station claiming that the wallet had a tracker on it that located it in my vehicle. He also claimed to have video footage of me stealing the wallet, which is outright false; he was attempting to intimidate me with false information. He demanded my identification despite the fact that I had not violated any traffic laws, and he had no reasonable suspicion to suspect me of having committed other crimes. I had two passengers in the car whose identification he also demanded to see, which I did not even think was legal. Immediately after scanning our ID's, he immediately left us alone and did not even request to see my proof of registration or insurance, so I know he did not actually care about the stop itself. I did not receive a ticket during this interaction as I had not actually done anything wrong and had no outstanding warrants of any kind. This notice of complaint is a request for Internal Affairs to initiate an investigation to determine if the employee conduct is within compliance of APD policy, Civil Service Rules, and Municipal Civil Service Rules.