Bill Henderson is the chief legal counsel for Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and he ran into some legal trouble of his own after his car was towed from a mall in west Houston.
Court records on the deadly conduct charges say Henderson struck the female employee with his car. Now the president of the car storage business says there was no reason things needed to get so out of hand.
Henderson's was one of dozens of vehicles towed Tuesday night.
"The vehicle was towed from CityCentre," said Ken Ulmer, president the vehicle storage facility that collects the fees.
Ulmer says the trouble started when Henderson arrived to pick up his vehicle at the KTL Auto Storage lot on Brittmoore near Hammerly. Ulmer says he went straight into the storage yard without paying or following the process.
Ulmer says his employees told Henderson repeatedly to go to the office. Eventually, a female employee went to turn off the exit gate so he couldn't leave.
"This individual expedited getting in his car, drove to the front of the lot to attempt to drive through the gate," Ulmer said.
Ulmer says he pulled up to the woman and still wouldn't get out, then accelerated as a tow truck tried to prevent him from leaving.
"He appeared to be pretty upset and very irrational and wouldn't even deal with anybody trying to reason with him," Ulmer said.
Our calls to Henderson, who is now charged with deadly conduct, have not been returned.
Ulmer says his employee was hurt as the car caught her knee. She was transported to the hospital. She is home now but recovering from injuries.
"I would think someone with any legal background at all would understand there's a civil remedy for everything, and that's the process that should have been followed in this case," Ulmer said.
A spokesperson for Judge Emmett says Henderson is still employed and working in his current capacity.
