Charges dismissed against man months after he was hit, injured by Lake Worth police car
A Fort Worth man seriously injured after he was hit by a Lake Worth patrol car during a pursuit and later offered 25 years on charges of evading arrest and drug possession is walking away from those charges, Tarrant County authorities said on Friday.
The charges were dismissed Thursday.
“The case in question was dismissed for prosecutorial discretion on August 26,” said Anna Tinsley Williams, a spokeswoman with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, in a Friday email. Officials at the district attorney’s office did not provide any other details on the reason for the dismissal.
The prosecutor assigned to the case resigned on Monday.
“It’s great,” Dustin Bates said Friday from the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth in a telephone interview with the Star-Telegram, referring to the charges being dismissed. “I was run over by a police car and I get charged. I’m not surprised the charges were dropped.”
Bates said dashboard camera video showed that a Lake Worth patrol unit hit him on Nov. 23, causing serious injuries, but he was charged with evading arrest and drug possession.
Bates remained in the Tarrant County Jail on Friday on a parole violation.
“That stems from being charged with the evading incident,” Bates said.
Lake Worth Police Chief T.J. Manoushagian could not be reached Friday for comment on the case or if the officer who was driving the car was disciplined.
Bates’ story began on the afternoon of Nov. 23.
Lake Worth Officer Jonathan Granado reported he could not see the plates of a motorcycle at Lake Worth Boulevard and Boat Club Road, according to court documents. Bates was later identified as driving the motorcycle.
“He later calls in the plate, so how could that even have been probable cause to stop me,” Bates said.
At some point, the motorcycle took off and a pursuit ensued.
“I took off because I knew it was Lake Worth police,” Bates said. “I knew they would make up charges if they stopped me, so I drove off.”
The Lake Worth officer pursed the motorcyclist for about three miles, Bates said, with speeds ranging from 70 to 100 miles per hour.
Bates said he took the Marine Creek exit, where he left the roadway and laid down his motorcycle, causing a cloud of dust.
“I ran across the ramp into a field,” Bates said. “I saw the officer coming pretty fast, so I was running just to get out of his way.”
Within seconds after he entered the field, Bates was hit by the Lake Worth officer’s patrol unit, and suffered spinal injuries, his right leg broken in two places, three broken ribs and knee injuries.
Granado jumped out of his patrol unit and brandished a Taser, but he later replaced it with a handgun, yelling at Bates, “Don’t make me shoot you,” according to court records.
Bates was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth and needed several surgeries since he has been in custody.
Bates has remained in the Tarrant County Jail for the last nine months.
In January, Bates was offered a 25-year prison sentence in a plea agreement, according to Tarrant County court records. Bates declined the offer, telling his then attorney that counsel had not even heard his side of the story or viewed any evidence, particularly dash camera and body camera video of the incident.
“I was just trying to get out of the way of the patrol car,” Bates said. “And now I’m in pain every day.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 5:13 PM.
