Deputy Sues 911 Caller for Not Warning of Possible Danger

Four unfortunate events ensued. 

“This is crazy,” says the newscaster.

According to Pullen*, as soon as he walked in, Yazar attacked him, jumped on him, broke his nose, started biting him, and then reached for the deputy’s gun. Pullen and a fellow deputy shot Yazar multiple times, killing him. A fellow deputy said Pullen had a concussion, cuts, bruises, and bite marks. Officials said that they also had used a Taser.

And now, Pullen is suing Yazar’s mother-in-law who called for dispatch, for not warning (enough?) about the potential danger. He wants $200,000 in damages for past and future: medical expenses, pain, suffering, mental anguish, loss of earning capacity, and physical disfigurement and impairment. Even though the call for help was over craziness from drug use, the litigation stems from failing to warn deputies of a possible dangerous situation awaiting them. Pullen had said: Figueroa failed to “adequately warn others that her resident or guest Kemal Yazar posed a violent threat to others.”

*Here is the fourth unfortunate event only mentioned in the video and not one of the source stories: a witness, sister-in-law, Roxanne, claims that Yazar never attacked or even touched the deputy at all, but backed away, put his hands up, and prayed aloud – and was shot three times and killed anyway.

A cousin-in-law, Corina Padilla, says Yazar had drunk tea that caused hallucinations but was only suffering from stress and depression. She also says:

At no moment did Kemal assault the officer. An unarmed man, a family guy, father and husband of three girls was killed. He had no criminal record. He was self-employed in import-export of very expensive rugs from Turkey and Persia.

If this is true, it makes the incident and the litigation truly bizarre and suspect. With few witnesses against the word of one deputy (working with another) over a man who was allegedly on one of the most volatile drugs ever known – will we ever know what happened?

That being the case, a life has been paid, injuries or not to the deputy, resulting from a call for help. The deputy responsible, whether warranted or not, is suing the 911 caller. The mother-in-law calling for help….

Not hiding his sarcasm, Criminal Attorney Brian Wice said:

The first day this guy became a cop when he was given a gun and a badge, he was told that he assumes the risk of having to deal…with bad guys. 

Look, police officers know everyday, everywhere they go, they could be in a dangerous situation, so this guy is going to try step out and collect money for taking that risk.

He called the ensuing litigation “a slap in the face to first responders everywhere.”

One wonders if we’ll ever see evidence of the injuries, a doctor’s report perhaps. Pullen and his attorney are not commenting at all, reportedly because the case is under official investigation by Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Also something to ponder, will there come a day where you can be sued by law enforcement for calling them for an unruly “guest” – or a break in?

Sources contain different pieces of information:

 http://www.click2houston.com/news/harris-county-sheriff-deputy-suing-911-caller/-/1735978/21474954/-/5dqgguz/-/index.html

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Harris-deputy-sues-resident-who-called-911-for-4736324.php