Neighbor charged in Harding raid case could be 'vindictive': Ex-husband
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The ex-husband of the woman who called 911 prior to the deadly Harding Street raid said she could be vindictive.
Patricia Ann Garcia, 52, is the third person now charged in connection to the botched raid at 7815 Harding St. on Jan. 28.
She was arrested Wednesday morning after a federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment against her and former Houston police officers Gerald Goines and Steven Bryant.
SEE ALSO: Former HPD officers at center of botched, deadly raid arrested by FBI
Goines is charged with felony murder in state court. The federal indictment revealed allegations of civil rights violations against him. Bryant faces state and federal charges for falsifying records. All three were in federal court Wednesday afternoon.
Garcia is accused of relaying false information on Jan. 8 about drug dealers and machine guns inside 7815 Harding that set Houston police in motion.
"But for that call, the information provided, we wouldn't be standing here today," HPD Chief Art Acevedo told reporters.
Four officers were shot. One remains paralyzed. Innocent residents Rhogena Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle were killed.
"Why would she call like that?" said Ray Garcia, Patricia Ann's ex-husband. "I don't know the details or whether she was mad at those people or fighting."
He told ABC13 they have been apart for years but share two children. He said Patricia Ann could be vindictive. She cut him out of family pictures when they separated, he added.
The woman lives with her parents a few houses down from the deceased couple. Her boyfriend lives across the street from their house, and residents said Garcia often threatened to call the police on Nicholas for no good reason.
According to the indictment, Garcia called 911 and claimed her 25-year-old daughter was inside the home and doing drugs. Her father and federal prosecutors said none of it was true.
"She (their daughter) was with me when all that happened and she got called to court down there and all that, saying they said my ex-wife had said her daughter was there or something, but she wasn't even there," said Ray Garcia.
The investigation showed Nicholas and Tuttle were not dangerous drug dealers or gun runners. In fact, they were well-liked on the street and had lived there for years.
Residents call Garcia a troublemaker. Her parents did not answer the door when we reached out to them. She remains in federal custody until a detention hearing. Her criminal history includes drugs, theft and assaulting a family member, according to online records.
If convicted for conveying false information, Garcia faces five years in federal prison.
