Paper: Houston Chronicle

Date: 4/20/01

Ex-deputy denies hog tying man in store incident

By BILL MURPHY - Staff

A former Harris County deputy sheriff testified Thursday that he and his partner did not hogtie, punch or mistreat Darryl Robinson after forcing him into a back office at the Dillard's store on Post Oak Road.

Collier Bridges, now a Houston police officer, said he and Deputy Jeff Robinson only wrestled with Darryl Robinson and sat on his back to try to control him June 1, 1994.

Bridges, however, testified that he and his partner lacked probable cause to arrest Darryl Robinson after observing him get on a counter and say something.Robinson, 37, died two days after the incident, and his family sued Dillard's, Bridges, Jeff Robinson and five Houston police officers. A jury in visiting state District Judge Katie Kennedy's court is hearing the suit.

The family's lawyers contend Darryl Robinson only became loud and slightly out of control as he demanded that a customer service department clerk let him withdraw $500 on his ATM card.

The deputies, working an off-duty job, overreacted and beat Robinson after forcing him into an office, the family's lawyers say.

Bridges contradicted earlier witnesses who testified that the deputies and Kim Wetzel, a store manager, hogtied Robinson with box tape.

"You hogtied him on his side?" asked family lawyer James Doyle.

"I didn't hogtie him," Bridges replied.

Earlier witnesses said Robinson had trouble breathing as he struggled with officers in the office.

Bridges said he became winded but that Robinson didn't have trouble breathing after wrestling for several minutes.

Even after he and Jeff Robinson were on Darryl Robinson's back, the latter didn't appear to have trouble breathing.

"That would be about 430 pounds." Doyle said. "That's a lot of weight."

"Yes, sir," Bridges said.

He testified he saw Robinson demand $1 million while standing on a counter.

But he admitted testifying in a 1997 deposition that he could not recall whether Robinson had jumped on the counter and made such a demand.

Chris McGoey, a department store security expert called by the family, testified that Dillard's was asking for trouble by hiring police to do retail security work.

Security officers who aren't police can be more easily trained to handle store incidents properly and are less prone to quickly arrest a person or take actions that may lead to tussles and fights, McGoey said.

Based on his understanding of the Dillard's incident, he said, Jeff Robinson and Bridges should have escorted the overly loud Darryl Robinson outside.

"It's not a crime to be obnoxious," McGoey said.

Shoplifting, he said, is common in department stores, but violent crimes are very rare. Stores don't need armed officers because officers shouldn't be shooting in retail areas, McGoey said.