Video clears Texas man of assaulting cop—did police commit perjury?

"I knew the camera system was capturing everything the entire time. It knew everything that happened. I told him, 'You just messed up. You have no idea how bad.' He told me to 'shut up.'"

That's the conversation 47-year-old Larry Faulkenberry had with an officer of the Caldwell County Sheriff's Department after being leg-whipped to the ground and roughed up by three deputies in January 2015. Faulkenberry was tossed in jail for 10 days and held on $807,000 bail. He was staring down years in prison for assaulting a cop, resisting arrest, and other charges.

That's the story Faulkenberry told Ars in a recent telephone interview. The incident took place in a rural county of 40,000 just south of Austin, at the five-acre property where Faulkenberry runs a motorcycle parts shop.

The police report (PDF) by Deputy Michael Taylor, however, claims Faulkenberry wasn't the victim. Taylor asserts that Faulkenberry attacked a deputy.

"I observed Lawrence Faulkenberry push Sergeant Yost with the left side of his body and elbow into a tree causing him to fall and injure his left shin and right knee cap. I observed Lawrence Faulkenberry to forcefully resist Deputies while attempting to lawfully detain him for officer safety. Deputies detained Lawrence Faulkenberry using the least amount of force necessary to gain compliance from Lawrence Faulkenberry."

But a secret video is closer to Faulkenberry's version of events.

Thirty feet away from the melee was a Samsung home security video camera Faulkenberry had fastened to a utility pole years earlier. It captured police arriving in response to a bogus call from Faulkenberry's 16-year-old son. The teen, angry that his dad had grounded him for problems in school, told police his father was drunk and waving a firearm. The video shows Faulkenberry with his arms raised and no weapon in sight. While the officers begin to handcuff him, one deputy kicks Faulkenberry's leg out from under him, after which Faulkenberry is thrown forcibly to the ground and struck at least once in the back, according to the video.

The video was enough for Caldwell County District Attorney Fred Weber to decline to press charges against Faulkenberry.

"Absolutely" was his response when Ars asked Weber if the video was what prompted him not to prosecute.

The video (which contains no audio) has not led to the officers being disciplined or charged for allegedly falsifying police reports. Weber declined to comment on that. The Caldwell County Sheriff's Department did not return messages left by Ars.

"Without the video I would be in prison. There is no doubt about that," Faulkenberry said.

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