FORNEY, Texas – “I believe they may have gotten the wrong car back there,” a 911 caller tried to tell a police dispatcher just moments before a Forney family was mistakenly subjected to a felony police stop along U.S. Highway 80.
FORNEY, Texas – “I believe they may have gotten the wrong car back there,” a 911 caller tried to tell a police dispatcher just moments before a Forney family was mistakenly subjected to a felony police stop along U.S. Highway 80.
On Sunday morning, August 10, 2014, a complainant called 911 while in Dallas County about a reckless driver near I-30 and Loop 12. Dallas County transferred the complainant to Mesquite who transferred it to Forney as the reckless driver and complainant approached Kaufman County.
According to the complainant, who spoke to inForney.com, the reckless driver nearly struck their vehicle and another car while on I-30. An individual in the reckless vehicle then allegedly waved a gun at the complainant while on U.S. Highway 80 between North Belt Line Road and Collins Road in Sunnyvale, Texas.
Forney police officers attempted to locate the vehicle, described as a beige- or tan-colored Toyota, possibly a Camry or Corolla, but ultimately pulled over the wrong vehicle, a burgundy Nissan Maxima, and subjected the woman, Kametra Barbour of Forney, Texas, and four young children ages six, seven, nine, and ten to a felony police stop.
Five dashcam videos were released as well as a CD with 18 audio files. Here are transcripts of portions of the audio and video overlaid from the time the Forney Police Department took the call from Dallas County:
Dallas County dispatcher: “It is going to be a beige- or tan-colored Toyota occupied by four males.”
Caller: “We're passing Lawson Road exit now.”
Dispatch: “Do you have a license plate on the Toyota?”
Caller: “We can't catch up with it. There's no way without us killing someone to catch up with this car because they're doing a hundred. They passed us and my husband said that he showed a gun.”
Caller: “They are weaving in and out of traffic.”
Dispatch to officers: “Callers advising it is a beige- or tan-colored Toyota.”
Dispatch to caller: “Are you behind it still?”
Caller: “We are quite a ways behind it cause like I said there is no way for us to catch up with it, it is doing at least a hundred.”
[Some inaudible]
Caller: “We just passed Forney city limits”
Dispatch to officers: “My callers advising she just passed a sign that says Forney city limits.”
Caller: “We're passing Broad Street.”
Dispatch: “And he's a ways ahead of you?”
Caller: “Yea … I mean we can still see his taillights”
Dispatch to officers: “Passing Broad Street and he's a little ways ahead of her [inaudible] can see his taillights.”
The Forney Police Department is then given a description of the gun involved.
Dispatch: “Can you tell my what type of weapon they waved out the window?”
Caller: “Baby, do you know what they waved, what kind of weapon?”
Occupant of Caller vehicle (Caller 2): “[inaudible] nine millimeter.”
Caller: “All he can say is some kind of pistol. We're passing Pinson Road, eastbound. They're coming up on 548.”
Dispatch to officers: “Caller still eastbound passing Pinson. Caller thinks suspect vehicle coming up on 548.”
Caller: “That's how far we got behind them. We're not gonna be able to catch them.”
Dispatch to officers: “Caller thinks its a small pistol, possibly a nine millimeter.
At least three Forney Police Department squad cars entered eastbound U.S. Highway 80 as Forney's dispatch was describing the weapon to them – the units entered at the same time as a burgundy Nissan Maxima.
Two squad cars stopped on the entrance ramp and the other squad car stopped just a couple yards down the highway. Officer 1 spots the beige- or tan-vehicle, catches up to it, and begins running its license plate while they were in the left lane. Officer 1 and the vehicle are passing the County Road (CR) 212/217 exit while the plates are being ran. Dashcam video then shows the burgundy car exit.
Officer 1: “[Unit number] Forney, copy 28.”
Dispatch: “Go ahead.”
Caller 2: “They are in the left lane.”
[Overlaps with Caller 2] Officer 1: “[license plate 1], [license plate 1]”
Dispatch: [Returns license and registration information which describes the vehicle as a Toyota unknown color.]
The caller then tells dispatch they believe the vehicle may have exited the highway at the CR 212/217 exit. Forney's dispatch then relayed that information to the officers. The caller tells dispatch they are attempting to get closer. When they get closer, the caller verifies the vehicle is in the left lane.
Dispatch: “Is that what you're saying mam?”
Caller: “Well, is that them on the service road?”
Dispatch to officers: “She's trying to get me further.”
Caller: “Well, we're trying to get a little, we're trying to get up here a little bit more.”
Officer 1: “10-4, I'm gonna be traffic on that last 28 and the vehicle appears to be occupied four times with all possibly black males. Disregard, no black males in this car. It might be that vehicle on the service road”
[Overlap with last Officer 1] Caller: “We just passed a Forney officer. They're ahead of him. They're up here in the left lane [stated as Officer 1 was behind the suspect vehicle]. We just passed a Forney officer.”
Dispatch: “Okay hang on just a minute.”
Caller: “We just ticked our lights on, he seen it?”
It's at this moment a second officer (Officer 2) begins running the license plate of the burgundy Nissan Maxima on the service road. Seconds later, Officer 1 turns on his lights and attempts to pull over the beige- or tan-colored Toyota. The background conversation on an audio file released on CD had to be overlaid on one of the dashcam videos in order to determine the exact time the caller identified the correct vehicle with the actions taken by Officer 1.
Officer 2: “[unit number] Forney, I'm behind [license plate 2], [license plate 2]. It's gonna be a maroon Maxima.”
[Overlap with last Officer 2 in between first reading and second reading of license plate 2] Dispatch to caller: “Have they got it?”
Caller: “I don't know. He passed the exit back there. He was sitting at the exit, the Forney officer.”
Officer 1: [Turns on lights and gets behind suspect vehicle. Suspect vehicle attempts to pull over to the left and then the right]
Caller 2: “They're right here [inaudible] right here in front of us. He got him”
Caller 1: “They got him.”
Officer 3: [Behind Officer 1, speeds up to Officer 1 and the suspect vehicle.]
Dispatch: “Okay thank you.”
Caller 1: “Alright thank you.”
Dispatch: “[Unit number of Officer 2] that's gonna be your suspect vehicle.”
Officer 1: [Turns off lights.]
Officer 1 and 3: [Pull to side of the highway near the Windmill Farms Boulevard exit to wait for Officer 2 and the burgundy Nissan Maxima.]
While Officer 1 was pulling over the correct vehicle described by the caller, Forney dispatch advises Officer 2 who ran a license plate [license plate 2] they had the correct vehicle which happened to be the burgundy Nissan Maxima, the wrong vehicle. According to audio and dashcam video, Officer 1's traffic stop was not broadcast to the dispatch office and dispatch was unaware the caller was advising the officer with his lights on [Officer 1] was stopping the correct vehicle.
The caller attempted to signal to police officers they did not stop the correct vehicle. After seeing the officers turn off their lights on the correct vehicle and stop the wrong vehicle on the south service road of U.S. Highway 80 just before Windmill Farms Boulevard, the caller called 911 again. The call was routed to Kaufman County dispatch and then to Forney dispatch.
Based on the location of Officer 1's attempted traffic stop and the location given by the caller on the second 911 call, the suspect vehicle and the complainant had only traveled less than a mile and a half down the highway before being back in contact with the Forney Police Department dispatcher.
Kaufman County dispatch: “Kaufman County with a transfer.”
Caller: “I was just speaking to a dispatcher about a vehicle, an erratic vehicle driving recklessly.”
Dispatch: “Okay, where is it?”
Caller: “Im sorry?”
Dispatch: “Where is the vehicle?”
Caller: “Okay uh we are on, we, they just took a Terrell exit. The two cops that were fixing to pull him over, I believe they pulled over the wrong car because...”
Caller 2: “They let him go.”
Caller: “They, well, the car they hit the lights on was the right car but they didn't pull them over. I believe they may have gotten the wrong car back there.”
Dispatch: “Okay, whats that location mam?”
Caller: “80.”
Dispatch: “Windmill Farms?”
Caller 2: “Cutoff.”
Caller: “It's the 80 cutoff going to Terrell.”
Dispatch: “Okay at Windmill Farms. What's the vehicle look like?"
Caller: “It's either a tan or a gold Toyota Corolla or Camry.”
Caller 2: “They're already in Terrell now.”
Dispatch: “Okay, and this is the vehicle that was driving erratically?"
Caller: “Yes”
Dispatch: “Do you still see the vehicle?”
Caller: “Yes it passing us now.”
Dispatch: “And where are you exactly?”
Caller: [Gives partial license plate 1]
Dispatch: "[Reads back partial plate] It's gotta be more to the plate then that mam."
Caller: [Gives license plate 1]
Dispatch to dispatch 2: “Do they already have the vehicle pulled over?"
Dispatch 2: “[Unit number Officer 3] does.”
Dispatch: “Okay mam, where exactly are you, if you see this vehicle?”
Caller: “We are coming into Terrell on 80.”
Caller to Caller 2: “They already have the vehicle pulled over they said.”
Caller 2: “No!”
Dispatch: “Okay, alright, thank you mam.”
Caller: “Ok..”
The second 911 call with the Forney Police Department lasted a minute and 50 seconds after being routed through Kaufman County. Dispatch never alerted the officers conducting the felony stop of the second 911 call stating they had the wrong vehicle. From the time officers began their felony stop of Barbour and declared a cease felony stop, two minutes and twenty seconds had passed.
Officers executed a felony police stop, with guns drawn, instructed Barbour to exit the vehicle with her hands up, walked her backwards to the officers' squad cars, and then handcuffed her.
Barbour: “What is wrong?”
Unknown Officer: “Keep walking backwards.”
Barbour: “What is wrong? My kids!”
Unknown Officer: “How old are they?”
Barbour: “They're six and eight and ten, nine. What are you doing? What is going on?”
Barbour: “Oh my God, you will terrify my children.”
Unknown Officer: “We got a complaint, a vehicle matching your description, and your license plate, pointing a gun out the window.”
Barbour: “Do not terrify my children please, we don't have a gun.”
Unknown Officer: “Do they look young to you?”
Unknown Officer: “They do to me.”
Just then, Barbour's six-year-old son exits the vehicle with his hands up and an officer shouts, “gun down, gun down.” The officers then declared “cease felony stop.”
The officers offered an apology to Barbour that night. “I apologize again, we take every call serious and we obviously got called in on the wrong car. I hope you can understand,” an officer said. Other officers also attempted to calm the children in Barbour's vehicle.
In a statement, Forney Police Department Detective Michael Clay stated, “The Officers acted accordingly and professionally based on the information they were given at the time of the traffic stop, and they adjusted their methods accordingly when the situation presented itself to be otherwise.”
The original caller dialed 911 again, this time speaking with the Terrell Police Department. The caller lost the vehicle at a red light at the intersection of West Moore Avenue and Farm-to-Market (FM) 148/State Highway 205. It is unknown at the time of reporting if the Terrell Police Department was able to locate the vehicle.
Nearly two weeks after the incident, the complainant, when speaking to inForney.com, remembered every digit of the license plate number on the suspect vehicle, “He was in the left lane, that's the car he [Officer 1] lit up, and I said that's the one. Then all of a sudden they shot off of the highway to a red car.”
Earlier today, the Forney Police Department released the dashcam videos and an audio file of the incident on their Facebook Page, however, the files aren't overlaid to give a true sense of when the caller told the dispatch they had the correct vehicle.
The complainants' personal information was also not redacted from the audio and dashcam videos released on social media. The complainant says he'll be asking for their removal.
To date, no complaint has been filed by Barbour. However, Barbour told WFAA “I need you to make sure you have all the facts because you can’t just say, ‘OK, I’m sorry and then I’m over it.’ I can’t.”
“I'm sorry this has blown out of proportion like it did,” said the complainant after seeing the media reports. “I tried to tell them they had the wrong car ... How you mix up a tan or gold car with a red one, I don't know.”
