Cop relieved of duty in shoplifting case

HOUSTON (KTRK) Officer Kerry Small appeared in court on a charge of hindering apprehension. Small stands accused of picking up two suspected shoplifters at Greenspoint Mall over the weekend, then letting them go without arresting either girl. An attorney for the Houston police officers union says small thought he was picking up his daughter, while the mall thought he was there to arrest the girls.

HPOU Attorney Aaron Suder explained, "You had Officer Smalls called to Macys to pick up his daughter. It wasn't any kind of a mystery woman there. It was his daughter and a friend of hers. He thought she was being released to him as her father."

HPD has relieved Officer Small of duty while it investigates the case.

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