Conroe police chief defends officer's use of force during July 4 crash investigation

Conroe Police Chief Philip Dupuis and prosecutors came to the defense of an officer who wrestled an allegedly combative DWI suspect to the ground after a July 4 crash.

The chief's comments came during a press conference Monday where police released dash cam footage of the altercation in response to a shorter, 10-second cell phone video circulating on social media. Police are not sure where that video originated.

The officer, whom Dupuis declined to name, was dispatched to a crash in the 1600 block of Airport Road around 7 p.m.

According to the dash cam video, once on scene the officer began checking on the those involved before conducting an investigation. The officer spoke with a man on scene who initially said he was the only one involved but later divulged that Adrian Salazar, 22, of Conroe, was hiding underneath one of the trucks at the scene.

The officer can be heard asking Salazar to get out from underneath the truck on the passenger side, but Salazar can be seen exiting from underneath the driver side of the truck. As the officer went around to the other side of the truck, he and Salazar got into a physical altercation.

The video from the officer's cruiser show the two wrestling to the ground in a nearby ditch as the officer attempted to detain Salazar. Video then shows Luis Pineda, 27, of Conroe, and others walking up to the confrontation and yelling at the officer.

Pineda allegedly interfered with the officer as he was detaining Salazar. The officer tried pushing Pineda away before hitting him, video shows. Pineda eventually backed off and was arrested.

Conroe PD reported the altercation to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office soon after it happened. Prosecutors declined to investigate after seeing the video and agreed the officer's use of force was justified, according to Special Crimes Bureau Chief Tyler Dunman.

The shorter, 10-second video clip circulated online drummed up some negative responses to the officer's conduct, Dupuis said, adding the shorter video only shows the portion of the altercation where the officer is wrestling with Salazar and engaging Pineda but does not show the full context of his use of force.

"What's aggravating about social media is they edited it and put music to it like that's all we do all day long," Dupuis said. "That officer was minding his own business, answering a call for service to protect the citizens of this community. The next thing you know, he's in a fight. I think he handed himself professionally."

Dupuis said officers are to use verbal commands and then escalate their use of force from there, including placing their hands on suspects in order to detain them. The officer repeatedly asked Salazar to get out from under the truck on the passenger side, the dash cam video shows, before Salazar allegedly pulls away from the officer.

A woman on scene kept telling the officer Salazar was nervous around police, Dupuis said. He claims videos like the 10-second clip uploaded online lead to more and more people not trusting law enforcement officers.

Dunman said the full video shows the full context of the confrontation.

"That's not what you see in the social media video that's 10 seconds," Dunman said. "That's the dangerous thing when we begin putting our entire faith on a situation in a 10-second video. That's a scary situation for law enforcement."

Salazar was charged with DWI (second) and resisting arrest while Pineda was charged with interference with public duties.