Dickinson PD officer seen on video pushing down 65-year-old, later charged but cleared by department

Pooja Lodhia Image
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Police sgt. charged but cleared by department after pushing man down
Dickinson police Sgt. Michael Kinsley faces charges but was cleared by his department for allegedly pushing down Michael Scurlock during an arrest.

DICKINSON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Dickinson police sergeant has been charged with abusing an elderly person and official oppression.

Dashboard video grand jurors saw shows police questioning 65-year-old Michael Scurlock after a minor bike crash.

"We're re-living and thinking about what we saw in the video and how Michael begged for help, and he didn't get any, and how he ended up just catastrophically injured," Scurlock's sister, Stella Belisle, said.

In the video, the officer handcuffing him is Michael Kinsley.

The encounter continues as police take Scurlock to the Dickinson jail, where cameras capture him struggling to walk.

Police later dropped him off at home without taking him to the hospital, according to multiple family members.

"When I found out Michael was injured, I called the Dickinson Police Department, and they told me that they really couldn't find any information in the computer," Belisle said.

Scurlock spent the next several months in the hospital and then died.

His cause of death from the medical examiner was unrelated to the fall, but relatives believe it contributed.

As for Kinsley, the police department initially cleared him of wrongdoing after an internal investigation. Dickinson PD even promoted him to sergeant later.

However, city officials started investigating after complaints and referred the case to the Galveston County district attorney last year.

Now, two years later, Sgt. Kinsley is facing charges.

"If you saw it, you would think, this doesn't happen here, things like this. But they do. They do in towns like Dickinson," Belisle said. "If you have any humanity at all or compassion, you're going to feel. It's going to make you sick."

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