Man Illegally Detained For Segway; Police Escalate To Taser

A man riding an electronic Segway in a mall escalates to an out of control arrest made by Police. Michael Roulhac recorded the incident of Jesse Valdez being detained, which ultimately led to him having a taser being pointed in his back and arrested. 

According to Roulhac, Jesse was riding his electronic skateboard through the mall with his friends. “An officer spotted Jesse riding the device and made a bee line toward him”, he said. Immediately the situation escalated into a detainment that involved Valdez being thrown to the ground.

According to mall policy, riding skateboards and other similar objects are prohibited. However, riding a skateboard within a mall is not against the law. Rouhlac said that they were not asked to leave mall property before the incident occurred. Therefore, they had not broken any laws which would have included trespassing. It would seem unreasonable for an officer to detain someone over such a minor offense, that does not also coincide with someone breaking the law; a legal detainment being defined as someone that has committed a crime.

Throughout the video, Rouhlac is heard saying repetitively, “why is he being arrested?”. No answer was given by the officer to either Rouhlac or Valdez.

Mark Herman, a commanding officer in the precinct, said that Valdez was detained for disorderly conduct and arrested on charges of resisting arrest, a class A misdemeanor. How can someone can be arrested for “resisting arrest” on charges that do not coincide with the original reason of detainment? How can someone be legally detained without first breaking a law?

On Monday, a press conference was held by Valdez to contest the charges being held against him. According to Rouhlac, charges were also brought up against him for “inciting a riot and interfering with an arrest”. Those charges against Rouhlac have since been dropped.

The Officers involved in the incident are located out of Harris County Constable Precinct 4, Spring TX.