6 former HPD officers indicted on 17 felonies linked to deadly botched raid

Friday, July 31, 2020

6 former HPD officers charged in connection with Harding Street raid

Watch ABC13's story from July 1, 2020, when the six former officers were charged.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Harris County Grand Jury has handed up indictments against six former Houston police officers in the massive criminal case involving a botched raid in 2019.

Seventeen felony indictments were returned Thursday against the officers, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

In a statement released Friday, District Attorney Kim Ogg said the indictments were returned for a variety of accusations, including murder, falsifying documentation about drug payments to confidential informants, and using false information to get judges to sign search warrants.

Below is a list of the indictments:

Former Officer Gerald Goines

Felony murder - two counts

Tampering with a government record (search warrants) - four counts

Aggregate theft by a public servant between $2,500 and $30,000

Former Officer Steven Bryant

Aggregate theft by a public servant between $2,500 and $30,000

Tampering with a government record (confidential informant forms which contain details of money allegedly given to informants for services or buying drugs)

Former Sgt. Clemente Reyna

Tampering with a government record (confidential informant forms) - three counts

Theft by a public servant between $2,500 and $30,000

Former Sgt. Thomas Wood

Tampering with a government record (confidential informant form)

Theft by a public servant between $2,500 and $30,000

Former Lt. Robert Gonzales

Misapplication of fiduciary property

Former Officer Hodgie Armstrong

Tampering with a government record (offense report and confidential informant form) - two counts

Aggregate theft by a public servant

Grand juries are convened in secret and determine whether there is enough evidence in a criminal case to proceed to trial. An indictment is not an indication of guilt.

"The indictments are the next procedural step for the six retired officers, including Gerald Goines, Steven Bryant, three supervisors and a senior police officer, who were charged on July 1," Ogg said in a statement.

The home at the center of the botched raid in the 7800 block of Harding Street was the scene of a "no-knock" narcotics warrant that was executed by Houston police officers on Jan. 28, 2019.

The operation resulted in Rhogena Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle, a married couple, both being killed.

In addition to Goines and Bryant, those charged include former sergeants Clemente Reyna and Thomas Wood, former lieutenant Robert Gonzales, and former senior officer Hodgie Armstrong, according to court records.

Goines had previously been charged with felony murder and tampering with government records and Bryant has previously been charged with tampering with government records.

Supervisors signed records stating they witnessed street-level officers pay money to confidential informants for buying drugs, when the evidence reveals the supervisors were not actually there, and therefore could not have witnessed what they claimed to have witnessed, according to prosecutors.

"This investigation is peeling back layers of a narcotics-enforcement system gone awry," Ogg said previously. "It calls into question the way HPD has been enforcing narcotics laws, especially in communities of color. The lion's share of arrests made by this squad were minority men for low-level drug crimes."

Prosecutors are still reviewing past cases to determine if defendants were wrongfully convicted after being arrested by Goines.

Botched HPD raid: Officer charged with 2 counts of murder

The video above is from previous reporting.

WATCH: Officers Goines and Bryant released from jail