Leukemia patient says he was beaten by Galveston police
GALVESTON, Texas -- A father of three fighting leukemia is now facing a different battle: one with the Galveston Police Department.
"They abused their authority, pretty much. Thinking they can do what they want with people," said Isaac Walton, a League City resident who is accusing four Galveston police officers of beating him for no apparent reason.
On Aug. 15, Walton, his wife, and three kids were on Galveston Island to celebrate his middle daughter's birthday. That morning, Walton says he left their hotel and walked to get the family breakfast. He paused along the seawall, and took a brief stroll on to a jetty.
"Next thing I know, I felt somebody grab me, and I grab my right arm, and this time I realize it's a police officer," said Walton. "Immediately I say, 'Sir, I have a PICC line on this side, and I have leukemia,' and they didn't listen to anything I have to say."
A PICC line is a catheter that's implanted on a cancer patient's upper arm, used to directly infuse chemotherapy drugs into the patient.
Walton says the officer beat him, and one officer used a Taser on him, before putting him into a police vehicle.
"The only thing I can think about was trying to get out of that situation safely, without pretty much dying," Walton said.
"They beat him, they put handcuffs on him, throw him in the back of a car, they don't charge him with anything, they tell him he's not under arrest, then they drop him off at an emergency room, and they just leave them there," said Joe Mathew, one of the attorneys representing Walton.
That morning, Walton left the hospital and walked back to the Galveston hotel where his family was staying. His family eventually found him slumped over, along the side of the hotel. They drove him immediately to MD Anderson Cancer Center.
While there, his wife took pictures of Walton's lacerations and abrasions. The University of Texas Police Department also wrote an incident report.
Eventually, Walton was charged with resisting arrest. His attorney says that did not take place until September. The Galveston Police says it issued a warrant within days.
The charges are currently not available on the Galveston County District Clerk's website.
Galveston police met with Eyewitness News to dispute the allegations of police assault, but would not comment on camera.
Galveston PD says its officers were responding to several calls that morning, that a Hispanic male was walking along the jetty looking disoriented and behaving weirdly. Walton is mixed race.
The police department says an internal investigation is ongoing, but Walton's attorneys doubt that.
They say they have not been able to obtain any information relating to the charges or the arrest.
The Galveston Police Department released this statement Monday afternoon:
On Wednesday, August 15th 2018, at approximately 9:57am, the Galveston Police Department received two 911 calls requesting that the police check the welfare of a male, later identified as, 32-year-old Isaac Walton, as he was out on a jetty in the 3000 block of Seawall Blvd. During their encounter with Walton, he refused to follow commands given by Officers to further their investigation and was subsequently arrested for Resisting Arrest and transported him to the Galveston County Jail where jail medical staff refused to accept Walton until he was declared fit for incarceration by an attending doctor. Officers subsequently transported Walton to UTMB and released him, and requested a warrant for his arrest be issued for the aforementioned charge.
The warrant request for the charge of Resisting Arrest, Search, or Transport was completed by the officer on August 15th and was submitted to the court the next morning on Thursday, August 16th. The Galveston Police Department was made aware of the allegations against the officers later that evening, at which point the Chief of Police initiated an investigation into the officers' conduct. The judge subsequently signed and issued the warrant the following Monday, August 20th at which point the warrant became active and was entered into the state and national registry. Walton was then detained by League City Police during a traffic stop on September 7th, arrested for the active warrant, and transported to the Galveston County Jail.
The internal investigation has since revealed that the involved officers' actions did not appear to violate policy. To date, Walton has not filed an official complaint with the Galveston Police Department.
It appears that there are some questions concerning the timeline of events due to the gap between the warrant being filed, and the arrest. Hopefully this explains the sequence and answers those questions. Since the criminal case is still pending we are not able to comment on the details of the criminal case.
Meanwhile Walton, who is still fighting leukemia, is now scheduled for a stem cell transplant in an effort to save his life.
Walton's family also has a GoFundMe site to help with some of the medical bills.
