Rosenberg PD hit with lawsuit alleging excessive force

ROSENBERG (FOX 26) - The Rosenberg Police Department has been hit with a lawsuit alleging excessive police force.

The incident shows police slamming the couple to the ground, and an officer punching the man. It happened back in July 2014.

According to the court complaint, Christine and Steven Saenz were in a car outside their daughter's home after an argument with her. Their attorney said the daughter called police to help keep the peace, but when officers showed up, they dragged the wife out of the car. The attorney said the husband then got out to talk with the officers, which led to the incident.

“When he came around…they see that he has a pocket knife because, like I said, he works with his hands. He works in the farm industry, so he always has that pocket knife with him,” said Tony Wadhawan. “He reached out, got it, handed it over. As soon as he did that, one of them struck him, and they took him down to the ground.”

The cell phone video was recorded by their son and does not show what happened leading up to this moment.
However, the attorney said it's clear that the Saenz family complied.

“My client was not fighting with them,” said Wadhawn. “My client wasn't doing anything of that nature. What I think was happening was we have some overzealous cops out there sometimes.”

The Rosenberg police department has said because this is a pending lawsuit, they cannot comment on the incident.

There were originally various criminal charges filed against the Saenz family, including felony and public assault to a servant charges, but all of those except one on resisting arrest have been dropped.

The officers involved in the lawsuit are still working at the Rosenberg Police Department.

The attorney for the couple said they lost their jobs because they had to keep flying in from Philadelphia for court appearances.