Military veteran says he soiled himself after Dallas police refused to help him gain restroom entry
DALLAS (AP) — A Dallas police oversight board is investigating four officers after a disabled U.S. Army veteran filed a complaint that two off-duty officers refused to help him when a restaurant denied him entry to a restroom and he soiled himself.
Dynell Lane told the board at its Aug. 8 meeting that two off-duty officers working security at Serious Pizza refused to look at his medical paperwork about 2:15 a.m. June 10 after employees said he couldn’t use the restrooms.
Lane called 911 and two on-duty officers later arrived, but he said he had a urine and bowel leak issue and had left the restaurant.
The officers are seen and heard laughing about the situation on an officer’s body camera before it is apparently shut off.
“So you guys made a guy pee himself?” an on-duty officer asks, as she laughs.
One off-duty officer slaps his knee and laughs upon realizing Lane called 911.
“He calls back and said it’s OK he doesn’t need to pee anymore because he soiled ...” the female officer said and the video ends.
Police internal affairs found the officers did not violate policy, but police say an internal affairs administrative investigation is underway into Lane’s complaint.
The off-duty officers have been identified as James Smith and Juan Figueroa Luna, the on-duty officers have not been identified.
Serious Pizza, in a statement to The Dallas Morning News said it is owned by a veteran and was not aware of the extent of the incident until the body camera footage was released and has asked that the two off-duty officers no longer be assigned to its restaurant.
“We are sad and disappointed to have learned about the way he was treated in the vicinity of our restaurant,” according to the statement. “We are disheartened that we didn’t have the opportunity to resolve the situation in real-time.”
The restaurant said it closes its restrooms to the public for safety as it cleans them in preparation to close for the day, but is reviewing its policies.
Lane told the oversight board that he was wounded during deployment to Afghanistan and Kuwait and had surgeries on his lower extremities. A U.S. Army spokesperson confirmed he was in the Army reserves, his rank as sergeant and his deployments, according to The Dallas Morning News.