A former Texas A&M University-Commerce student whose arrest two years ago drew national attention is now suing the City of Commerce and former Commerce police chief Kerry Crews. The Commerce Journal reports that the suit was filed in U.S. District Court on Sunday.
Commerce City Manager Darrek Ferrell and Crews both declined the Journal’s request for comment, although Crews did tell the Journal yesterday that he has not yet hired an attorney.
Ponder was arrested in May 2017 following a verbal altercation at the Commerce Walmart with former Commerce school district board member Michael Beane. Crews was off duty at the time but became involved in the dispute at the request of Beane. Ponder was arrested by a uniformed Commerce police officer and charged with resisting arrest. That charge was later dropped.
In June 2017, Crews resigned as police chief and Beane resigned from the school board. Crews did remain on staff as assistant city manager, a position that was created for him. Ponder’s attorney Lee Merritt expressed unhappiness with that move as it mitigated the negative consequences of the incident for Crews.
Ponder is black, while Crews and Beane are white. Beane, who is alleged to have called Ponder a “black (expletive)” during the incident, is not named in the lawsuit. The suit does not allege racial bias. In June 2017, the Fort Worth-based law firm Lynn, Ross and Gannaway, which was hired by the City of Commerce to investigate the incident, reported that Crews did not act with racial bias during the incident.
The lawsuit does accuse Crews of making an unlawful arrest and accuses the city of failing to adequately train its officers. Ponder is seeking at least $150,000 from Crews and $300,000 from the city, the lawsuit states, and she requests a jury trial.
Crews is currently Justice of the Peace for Precinct 2 in Hunt County. He was elected in November 2017.
