Lawsuit filed against local police officers

A lawsuit filed in the Eastern District Court in Beaumont alleges that several Jasper County police officials violated the rights of a Brookeland couple during a botched attempt to serve a warrant.

According to attorney Curtis B. Stuckey, the complaint was originally filed Jan. 25 by Raybon and Annie Hunt, of Brookeland.

The lawsuit has been filed against Jasper Police Chief Todd Hunter, Houston police officers Rick Moreno and B.C. McDaniel, Jasper police officers Derek Woods, Paul Noyola, Michael Poindexter, Frank Erimias, Jeff Coulter, Garrett Foster, Gerald Hall, James Payne and George "Buddy" Rector and Jasper County Sheriff's Deputy Paul Tomplait.

According to the amended lawsuit, the officers had obtained a search warrant on Sept. 28, 2006 to enter a residence at 126 Circle Drive in Brookeland. The Hunts reside in a mobile home located at 940 Church Street in Brookeland.

The lawsuit alleges the officers entered the Hunt's residence and HPD officers Morena and McDaniel gave the order to enter the home.

"Defendant officer Noyola observed that the residence and said it was not the residence where he had seen an El Camino with the person that they were looking for earlier that day," the lawsuit states. "However, he noticed that it was similar to a location that defendant deputy Tomplait had described."

The lawsuit alleges that Hunter, Tomplain, Noyola, Poindexter, Erimias, Coulter, Payne and Hall "broke in the door and trashed the house. They kicked in two doors, tore up three lamps and tore down the gate coming into the house.

Officers confronted the Hunts at the rear door of the home and ordered them down at gunpoint, according to the lawsuit.

"All the defendants left the house after they terrorized both plaintiffs and trashed the premises when defendant Hunter belatedly told everybody that they were in the wrong house," the lawsuit states.

Officials could not comment on the lawsuit.