A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper for the Texas Capitol District patrol assignment has been removed from his job pending an investigation, a spokeswoman for the agency said early Wednesday.
Trooper Don MacFarlane was removed from his job yesterday following a complaint connected to “an encounter involving some young adults riding on a Capital Metro bus” earlier this month, said DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange.
The encounter took place at 3 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 3, Mange said in a statement.
Now, MacFarlane will be removed from his assignment until an administrative investigation is completed, the statement read.
Mange said early Wednesday she could not comment further on the investigation.
“That’s all I can say,” Mange said. “We are taking prompt action after a complaint was made.”
A Capital Metro spokeswoman said Wednesday that the bus service provider is cooperating with the DPS investigation. However, she could not elaborate on the investigation, which was initiated by DPS and not Capital Metro, Whited said.
“We are aware of the incident,” said spokeswoman Misty Whited. “We are cooperating with DPS. It is an ongoing investigation.”
Because of the time of the incident, it appears the incident occurred on a special, late-night bus service targeted to college students who are traveling back and forth to the downtown entertainment districts, Whited said.
Capital Metro’s “E-bus,” also known as their entertainment bus, runs 8:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, Whited said.
The service runs from from the West Campus and Riverside areas to the downtown entertainment districts of 6th and 4th streets, Whited said. The service is free to University of Texas students who show their student identification, and $1 each way to others who use the service, Whited said.
“These are buses we provide for people, mostly younger people, who go out in the evenings,” Whited said. “One of the main reasons we have this bus service is to provide that safe ride home.”
The service only operates during the University of Texas Spring and Fall semesters, Whited said. The service was started several years ago with one route, and thanks to its popularity, has since grown to three, Whited said.
Off-duty Austin Police Department officers provide security for these buses, either by riding in plain clothes, patrolling bus stops or using Capital Metro security vehicles to monitor routes.
However, DPS troopers are not involved in providing security for Capital Metro buses, Whited said.
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WaTcHeR » 19 Oct 2010, Tue 4:19 pm
A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper for the Texas Capitol District patrol assignment has been removed from his job pending an investigation, a spokeswoman for the agency said early Wednesday.
Trooper Don MacFarlane was removed from his job yesterday following a complaint connected to “an encounter involving some young adults riding on a Capital Metro bus” earlier this month, said DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange.
The encounter took place at 3 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 3, Mange said in a statement.
Now, MacFarlane will be removed from his assignment until an administrative investigation is completed, the statement read.
Mange said early Wednesday she could not comment further on the investigation.
“That’s all I can say,” Mange said. “We are taking prompt action after a complaint was made.”
A Capital Metro spokeswoman said Wednesday that the bus service provider is cooperating with the DPS investigation. However, she could not elaborate on the investigation, which was initiated by DPS and not Capital Metro, Whited said.
“We are aware of the incident,” said spokeswoman Misty Whited. “We are cooperating with DPS. It is an ongoing investigation.”
Because of the time of the incident, it appears the incident occurred on a special, late-night bus service targeted to college students who are traveling back and forth to the downtown entertainment districts, Whited said.
Capital Metro’s “E-bus,” also known as their entertainment bus, runs 8:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, Whited said.
The service runs from from the West Campus and Riverside areas to the downtown entertainment districts of 6th and 4th streets, Whited said. The service is free to University of Texas students who show their student identification, and $1 each way to others who use the service, Whited said.
“These are buses we provide for people, mostly younger people, who go out in the evenings,” Whited said. “One of the main reasons we have this bus service is to provide that safe ride home.”
The service only operates during the University of Texas Spring and Fall semesters, Whited said. The service was started several years ago with one route, and thanks to its popularity, has since grown to three, Whited said.
Off-duty Austin Police Department officers provide security for these buses, either by riding in plain clothes, patrolling bus stops or using Capital Metro security vehicles to monitor routes.
However, DPS troopers are not involved in providing security for Capital Metro buses, Whited said.
by
WaTcHeR » 05 Jun 2011, Sun 11:28 am
A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper captured on Capital Metro bus surveillance video grabbing, dragging and pushing a male passenger in October has been indicted by a Travis County grand jury on two misdemeanor charges.
(Watch video of the encounter at the bottom of this story.)
Don MacFarlane, who had been assigned to Capitol District patrol, was removed from his job pending an investigation into a complaint connected to the Oct. 3 encounter on the bus.
Late Tuesday, the grand jury handed down an indictment charging him with official oppression, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, and assault, a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine.
The incident occurred a few blocks from the Capitol at Trinity and 15th streets on a late-night bus service targeted at students traveling between the University of Texas area and the downtown entertainment district.
Capital Metro provided the video after the American-Statesman filed a request under the Texas Public Information Act.
The man who was pushed by MacFarlane was not identified in the video. Tuesday’s indictment identifies him as Joey Gonzales.
At no time did Gonzales, who appeared to be in his 20s, physically threaten the trooper, who apparently was angry that someone had laughed.
The video shows about three minutes of footage from nine cameras on the bus — three showing the outside and six showing the inside. None of the people in the video was identified.
About 3 a.m., the bus door opened, and the trooper looked in and asked the driver: “Do you know that you are all the way across the cross walk? You are making it dangerous for me to try to make a right turn. I can’t see traffic.”
While the driver apologized, the trooper turned to leave. A passenger then shouted: “Hey, we’ve got places to go, bro.”
The trooper then entered the bus again and asked one man seated near the front, “What did you say to me?”
The man told the trooper he had been talking to another passenger.
After staring at the man for two seconds, the trooper again turned to leave. He stepped out of the bus, but when one of the passengers could be heard laughing, he climbed back up the stairs near the driver again.
“There is plenty of room in my car right now,” the trooper said, “to take you … to jail.”
He then walked up to a passenger and said, “You think it’s funny?” and grabbed the man by the shirt and said, “Get off the bus.”
“What did I do?” the man said. “I didn’t do nothing.”
After asking the driver how much the man paid to get on the bus, the trooper pushed the man in the shoulder area, left the bus and told the driver to “take care.”
Court records show that MacFarlane was indicted in 2009 on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct by displaying a firearm as a public servant. The indictment accused him of displaying “a firearm in a manner calculated to alarm, while acting in an official capacity as a public servant” on a Travis County highway.
The case was dismissed in May after MacFarlane reached a deferred prosecution agreement that required him to stay out of trouble for a year.
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