Teen claims he was mistakenly jailed for aggravated robbery he did not commit
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A 19-year-old is speaking out after he claims he was wrongfully arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault in connection with a January aggravated robbery that occurred at a motel in Spring.
"This is shocking, it's very shocking," said Bryce Peterson, the man at center of the allegations.
Speaking out with his attorney David Kiatta by his side, Peterson claims he was arrested by Harris County deputies in March.
Kiatta claims the entire case was not properly investigated, questioning some of the information detectives used to build their case against Peterson.
"It is abundantly clear that when you read the police report, the (victims) who say they were robbed were not telling the truth," Kiatta said.
Back in January, Harris County Precinct 4 deputy constables arrived at a motel along the North Freeway in Spring, and found two victims who had been injured during an aggravated assault.
Security camera footage captured a person wearing a black beanie outside of a hotel room who is believed to be a suspect in the case.
When HCSO investigators provided a photo lineup of possible suspects to the victims, one victim claimed Peterson was the suspect while the second victim chose a different person.
In early March, Peterson claims he was on his way to Memorial City Mall when the car he was in was pulled over, and he was placed under arrest.
"They said, 'Ok, we got him,' and after that they put guns in my face and in the driver seat window and in the passenger seat window and they arrested me," Peterson said.
Peterson maintains his innocence and tells ABC13 Eyewitness News he met the victims a few days prior to the incident and simply exchanged Instagram information.
Kiatta is now pointing the finger at HCSO investigators, accusing a detective on the case of leaving out key information, including the discrepancy between the victims in picking out a suspect, when he went before a judge, who then signed an arrest warrant.
"He didn't mention the surveillance video because if he had, somebody may have said, 'Hey, is there surveillance video? Does it look like Bryce?'" Kiatta said.
The district attorney's office tells Eyewitness News once their prosecutor reviewed the surveillance footage connected to the case, they concluded it was not Peterson in the footage and dropped his case the same day.
"I knew it was going to happen because I was innocent, but at the same time I got the call, and I was heading to court and I had a big smile on my face because I knew I was getting out," Peterson said.
Kiatta is now demanding the termination of the investigator on Peterson's case.
HCSO confirmed they are investigating the complaint against the investigator and also say the search is still ongoing for the suspect in the video.
