Man shot by Texas cop speaks out after charges dropped
Lyndo Jones who was shot by a police officer after he was mistaken for a vehicle break-in says he doesn't think the shooting was justified.
A man shot last week by Texas police officers who thought he was trying to break into a truck, had the charges against him dismissed Tuesday when officials determined the truck actually belonged to the man.
Lyndo Jones, 31, had been charged with evading arrest after he ran from police officers last Wednesday. A person called police around 7 p.m. reporting a vehicle break-in and authorities found Jones by the truck with the vehicle's alarm going off, but officers said later they were unaware he owned the truck. Jones allegedly got into a scuffle with Officer Derick Wiley and was shot twice.
Three additional officers arrived and handcuffed the man.
Mesquite police department spokesman Lt. Brian Parrish said the misdemeanor charge was dropped against Jones on Tuesday afternoon because it “may be inhibiting his treatment and access to his family,” according to Dallas Morning News.
"The decision was made to dismiss the misdemeanor charge, which will hopefully assist in his medical recovery,” Parrish said, adding police may revisit the charge at a later date.
Wiley was placed on paid leave during an investigation into the case.
Jones' attorneys, Lee Merritt and Justin Moore, said the shooting wasn’t justified and their client’s constitutional rights were violated. They claimed Jones had accidentally set of the car’s alarm and was trying to explain the situation when things escalated, the Dallas Morning News reported. The officers also attempted to perform an anal cavity search, according to the attorneys.
Jones also said Wednesday he was hospitalized for nearly a week and handcuffed to the hospital bed. He added his arms were up during the incident, FOX4 Dallas reported.
“I looked at the ground. He said, ‘what?’ He had this look on his face with his gun in his hand looking at me,” Jones said. “And he shot me. ‘Boom!’ He shot me. He spit after. He said, ‘what?’ He shot me. ‘Boom.’ Then, he spit.”
He added: “I’m handcuffed, and he was fumbling with my behind. I said, ‘What is you doing? Call an ambulance!’ That’s what I’m telling him.”
Parrish said no evidence points to Jones' accusations.
"None of the evidence that I've seen in this case indicates that there was any truth to it whatsoever," Parrish told the Dallas Morning News.
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