LEAGUE CITY – A couple has filed a $25 million lawsuit against the League City Police Department for what they call unjust actions.
On Sept. 18, a ring doorbell video captured the moment 62-year-old Randy Hall was arrested at his home.
“Tell me what I did,” he asked in the video.
The officer responded by saying “interference with a public officer.”
The incident allegedly stemmed from a fender bender.
“A misdemeanor warrant and we were both arrested in front of our children,” Randy said.
On Sept. 2, Hall’s wife, Rachael, said she was leaving her gym when another driver backed into her car. She said because the driver backed into her, she got the man’s information and they agreed not to call the police and to handle it by using insurance.
Later in the evening, a League City police officer showed up at her door asking for her information.
“My wife was intimidated by Officer Trochesset to the point she called me,” Randy recalled. “I asked him on the phone, because I was in El Campo, 90 miles away when this occurred on September the second, that he either provide a warrant or I would take this up with the police chief the next day.”
Randy said he filed a complaint and never heard back.
Then, on Sept. 18, officers showed up at his home and arrested him for interference with public duties and arrested his wife for an accident involving damage to a vehicle.
“No one offered any assistance for our children,” Randy recalled. “He asked how old are our children and we said they were minors, 15, 13, 11 and 10. He said, ‘they’ll be alright.’”
Randy said the officers also wouldn’t show him an arrest warrant.
“And we were never, never read our rights by either of the officers who arrested us,” he said.
They were booked and spent the night in jail.
The couple said after they got out, their conversation with League City Police Chief Gary Ratliff is one of the reasons they decided to file the $25 million lawsuit.
In a cell phone video recording, you can hear Randy tell Chief Ratliff the officers didn’t read them their rights. He appears to respond ‘they didn’t have to.’
Randy then says, “Really? Okay, I didn’t know you could be arrested without that.’” The chief then responded, ‘That’s correct.’
“In the lawsuit, we are requesting the judge to order League City to train their officers on Freedom of Speech, and also the crime of interference with public duties,” Randall Kallinen, the attorney said.
KPRC2 reached out to the League City Police Department about the lawsuit and they said they’ve been advised not to comment due to ongoing litigation.
According to arrest reports provided by the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office, Rachael was arrested for failing to provide her information in an accident, and Randy was arrested for impeding an officer’s ability to collect that information.
“Everyone needs to take a long look at the tactics used in this police department,” Randy said.
The Galveston County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute Randy and his charges were dropped. Rachael’s case is still under review.