FORMER JAIL INMATE, LOCAL ARTIST, FILES SUIT AGAINST WCSO & BPD

  

A local artist has filed a lawsuit against the Brenham Police Department and Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the Brenham Banner Press, Tristan Michael Hyde claims he was ‘unnecessarily and excessively tazed’ during an arrest on June 6^th of 2018.  Hyde claims he was not resisting arrest when he was tazed by a Brenham Police Officer.

Hyde is suing for a combined $1.5-million.

Hyde claims the tazing caused him “to become traumatized” and led to a ‘mental breakdown’ once he entered the Washington County Jail.  Hyde claims in the suit, that jail staff and a Brenham officer continued to taze him as the claims he asked for help.

Hyde’s suit also says he was strapped to a chair and stopped breathing, before he was taken to the emergency room in a patrol vehicle.  He says the incident was caught on multiple body and stationary cameras.

The suit is seeking $750,000 from the police department and another $750,000 from the sheriff’s office.

According to court documents, Hyde later pleaded guilty to evading arrest and detention and was sentenced to serve 18 days in the Washington County Jail and fined.

Hyde painted murals at Brenham businesses and other areas throughout Washington County.

Hyde, who is jailed in New Mexico on a Fraud charge, said he plans to file separate lawsuits for violation of due process, violation of civil rights, and cruel and unusual punishment.