FORNEY - Former Kaufman County Constable Precinct 2 Deputy Aaron Logan Ross has been charged with Official Oppression, as noted by records obtained by inForney.com.
FORNEY - Former Kaufman County Constable Precinct 2 Deputy Aaron Logan Ross has been charged with Official Oppression, as noted by records obtained by inForney.com.
inForney.com has obtained the Incident Report of Former Deputy Aaron Logan Ross, dated the evening of February 7, 2024. According to the report, Ross was cited and later arrested for Official Oppression.
The report states that Ross showed up at a Van Zandt County residence and told the complainant that he had 30 minutes to vacate the premises. The complainant was allegedly evicted and still had two days to vacate the premises. Ross showed up with one other man, Jordan Hamilton.
“At approximately 1729 hours, Deputy Davidson and Deputy Boyett arrived on scene in a marked Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office patrol unit where Deputy Davidson observed there to be a newer white Chevrolet Tahoe bearing "CONSTABLE PRECINT 2", and "K-9" down the driver side of the vehicle in ghost lettering,” stated the report.
“Deputy Davidson then exited the marked patrol unit, looked closer at the lettering on the vehicle, and observed a sheriff's badge that belongs to the Kaufman County Office in ghost lettering (lettering that is similar in color to the background color of the vehicle).”
Two unknown subjects directed Deputy Davidson, who contacted Ross, who identified himself. Deputy Boyett asked Ross why he was at a Van Zandt County residence, to which Ross replied he was attempting to determine whether the complainant lived there. The complainant told deputies that Ross and Hamilton entered the residence and told him he had 30 minutes to leave.
Ross was asked twice if he was a deputy constable, and he opened his jacket to display a badge shaped like a star. Ross told deputies he was driving home “talking to his chief” and stopped to explain “how this works” to the complainant.
The complainant called the police, and Ross returned to his patrol vehicle. The complainant and Ross then began talking, and, according to the report, Ross stated he didn’t have state jurisdiction but was attempting to find out what was going on.
Upon speaking with the complainant, Van Zandt deputies discovered that Ross had allegedly entered the residence without permission. When asked if he had a warrant, the report stated that Ross said one wasn’t needed as he had “permission” from the landowner.
“[The complainant] stated that Ross and Hamilton had barged into the house and [the complainant] said that they needed to knock first when Ross stated that he did not need to knock because they had permission from the landowner to be there. [The complainant} stated that Ross then identified himself as a Constable and asked Ross if he had a search warrant to which Ross stated that he did not need to have a search warrant,” stated the report.
According to the report obtained by inForney.com, Ross asked the complainant to show him the eviction papers. He would tell the complainant if they were authentic. "If you show it to me then I will tell you if it's legit or not, because it has to have the state of Texas and some other [explative] on it if it is legit.”
The report states that Ross pulled the Van Zandt Deputies aside and told them he was ensuring the complainant wasn’t being “[explative] over.”
The Deputies left the scene and determined moments later that they needed to return to the residence and investigate further. The complainant then told deputies that he asked Ross to show his badge, to which Ross allegedly opened his jacket, but the complainant did not see a badge. Deputies noted in the report obtained by inForney.com that they “noticed signs of deception” in Ross’ story as he allegedly " raised his voice” above the deputies during their interactions to make his statements “the only statements heard.”
The report obtained by inForney.com summarizes that Ross allegedly used official oppression to attempt to evict the complainant and, by doing so, trespassed by entering the residence.
Aaron Ross used Official Oppression by using his position in law enforcement by entering the residence of [the complainant] and Identifying himself as a Texas Peace Officer and stating that he did not need a search warrant to be in the residence of [the complainant] after being asked to provide a search warrant and being asked to leave,” stated the report.
inForney.com reached out to Precinct 2 Constable Jason Johnson for follow-up. Constable Johnson stated clearly that Ross immediately resigned from his office due to the charges. Constable Johnson also noted that Ross understood that deputies are held to the highest standards and must be held accountable.
“Aaron Ross understands that I hold my deputies accountable for their actions, and he resigned without question before the Internal Affairs investigation started,” said Constable Johnson. “My deputies will be held accountable for their actions if they are wrong.”
Constable Johnson acknowledged that we are all humans and can make mistakes. However, he maintained that he will hold the “highest” professionalism for all of Kaufman County and his precinct.