HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — The Texas Rangers are now investigating an incident in which a Waller County constable is accused of pointing a gun at another driver on a Houston area highway.
Waller County Precinct 3 Constable Herschel Smith is telling a very different story. Smith claims he was racially profiled when he was stopped by Harris County Precinct 5 constable deputies.
It happened Tuesday on Beltway 8 near Memorial, but all started when Smith said he flashed his lights because he was cut off by another driver.
“This white guy called in, Precinct 5 dispatched the call, followed me, stopped me in a vicious way. It doesn’t take but one call, one call from somebody to say a Black man pointed a gun," Smith said.
However, Precinct 5 says the 911 caller never mentioned race. They only provided a description of the car and license plate that initiated the traffic stop.
“He’s got police lights, I thought I was being pulled over by police, and when I got in the left lane in the shoulder to get pulled over, he pulled up next to me and pointed a gun at me," the caller said.
“When somebody calls a 911 dispatcher and says someone is pointing a gun at them on the roadway, then we have a responsibility to act and whether you are law enforcement or not. We are no better than the law we are sworn to protect," Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap said.
Heap said he has reviewed body camera footage of the traffic stop and says his deputies did nothing wrong. Heap said that because the incident involved allegations of inappropriate actions by an elected official, everything is being referred to the Texas Rangers.