Keller residents demand accountability for cop who ordered man arrested, pepper sprayed
The Keller police chief and mayor assured the community Tuesday night that the arrest of a man who was filming his son’s arrest over a traffic violation was an unacceptable, but isolated, incident.
The arrest and subsequent pepper spraying of Marco Puente gained national attention after the family filed a lawsuit against two Keller officers. The entire incident was video recorded on multiple dash cam and body worn cameras. The Keller police chief apologized for his officers’ behavior two days later and said they were in the wrong, according to a federal lawsuit Puente and his attorneys filed against the officers on Dec. 15.
Officer Blake Shimanek, previously a sergeant with the department, ordered Officer Antik Tomer to arrest and pepper spray Puente on Aug. 15 while Puente filmed his son’s arrest. Puente, an emergency electrician who grew up in Keller, was left without medical attention for 15 minutes.
Shimanek claimed Puente blocked a roadway, but a subsequent investigation found Puente did nothing wrong. About 40,000 people have signed a petition demanding Shimanek’s termination from the department.
At a 7 p.m. city meeting Tuesday, Keller Chief Police Brad Fortune said the way Puente and his son were treated “caused great disappointment and regret” in the department.
“It has tarnished the hard work and effort we put into building trust in our community,” he said. “I can assure you these videos portray an isolated incident that is not consistent with the department’s long history of professionalism and care when interacting with its citizens and visitors of every color and creed.”
Fortune, who has been the Keller chief since March, announced the department will hold two town halls to further hear from the community. The town halls will be held on Jan. 11 and Jan. 21, and further details will be released on the department’s website.
Newly elected Mayor Armin Mizani also spoke at the meeting and said it is the obligation of city leaders to provide police with adequate training, ensure residents feel safe and “make sure incidents like this never happen again.”
“Isolated incidents like these will not be tolerated,” he said. “Keller is a resilient community and although this incident has certainly put a temporary cloud over our community, I am confident that if we work together, we can turn this into a positive outcome for everyone.”
Demand for further discipline
During the public comment portion of the meeting, at least 14 people spoke from about 7:30 p.m. until 8:15 p.m. Many identified themselves as lifelong or longtime residents of Keller, and said they were disappointed and angry at what happened to the Puente family. The majority asked the police department to fire or further discipline Shimanek.
One speaker identified himself as Mike Carbone, a longtime friend of the Puentes. He said Shimanek’s actions “sullied Keller’s reputation” and officers have to be held to a higher standard.
“When you see that video and see the complete abuse of power by that police officer, it’s horrible. It’s absolutely horrible,” he said. “And to see my friend on the floor like that, it breaks your heart.”
Charles Proudman said he’s lived in Keller nearly his whole life. He said if the Puentes win the lawsuit, taxpayers will have to foot the bill for Shimanek’s actions.
“That’s an absolute disgrace,” he said. “And yet we’re supposed to be satisfied with Officer Shimanek getting a demotion and a pay cut. To me, that is totally, utterly unacceptable.”
Yolanda Webster spoke after her son addressed the council. She said she has seven children and has lived in Keller since 1993.
She said she always felt Keller was safe until 2016, when her son was pulled over on Bear Creek Parkway. She said he had to sit on the concrete for over an hour as police searched the car, which belonged to her. The officers questioned him about whether he smoked marijuana and about a bottle of oil found in the car — the oil, Webster said, was anointing oil that she and her husband use as pastors.
“I wanted to let that go. But from ‘16 up until just this year, I have had fear of driving down Bear Creek at night,” she said. “I did not come to Keller for that, nor did I experience that. But I wanted to say to you today, is that there is a culture that is on the rise. And if we don’t do anything about it now, it’s just going to get worse. It’s a culture and it breeds fear.”
Speaker Hannah Bland demanded that Shimanek be fired from the department.
“This abuse of power should not be tolerated,” she said. “Anything less than termination is disrespectful to this community.”
Marco Puente’s arrest
The incident, which has gained national attention, started when Shimanek pulled over Puente’s 22-year-old son, Dillon Puente. Shimanek followed Dillon Puente into a residential neighborhood and pulled him over, saying he made a wide right hand turn. As Shimanek approached the window, Dillon Puente started to roll it up.
Shimanek told him to stop rolling up the window, then asked him to get out of the car and put his hands on the door. He handcuffed him, asking him why he rolled up his window “for a routine traffic stop.”
Shimanek later told a supervising officer he arrested Dillon Puente because he suspected the 22-year-old had drugs in the car. During a subsequent search of the car, police did not find any narcotics.
While his son was placed in handcuffs, Marco Puente stood across the street and filmed on his phone. When another officer, identified as Officer Antik Tomer, arrived, Shimanek told him to arrest Marco Puente.
When Marco Puente asked why he was being arrested and did not drop his phone as Tomer demanded, he and Shimanek took him to the ground. Shimanek knelt on top of Puente’s back and told Tomer to pepper spray him. Tomer did so, then pulled Puente’s sunglasses from his face and sprayed him again directly in the eyes.
Puente was put into the back of a police cruiser, where he called out for someone to help him wipe his burning eyes. Shimanek and Tomer told him multiple times that he would receive medical help once paramedics arrived, but officers drove Puente away from the scene before EMS arrived. Once at the jail, jail attendants cleaned Puente’s face with a hose.
Puente and his attorneys say he never should have been arrested or pepper sprayed in the first place, but the indifference officers showed to his continued suffering was even more egregious. Shimanek, who is seen on video complaining about the pepper spray burning his arms, wiped at his own skin with a towel, but told Tomer not to give one to Puente.
Police Chief Fortune met with Puente and his family the Monday after his arrest and apologized for what happened. According to the lawsuit, he said his officers were in the wrong.
For his role in Puente’s arrest, Shimanek was demoted from sergeant to officer. Tomer was not disciplined because he was following orders from a supervising officer. The internal affairs investigation found that Shimanek showed conduct unbecoming of an officer, and that Puente did not block the roadway or interfere with Shimanek’s duties, as Shimanek claimed.
Fortune also showed the footage of Puente’s arrest to the Chief’s Advisory Council, which reviews all reports of police complaints and uses of force, and advises the police chief on matters of policy and training.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 10:06 PM.
