http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Officers_Country_Singer.html
Dallas police officer fired following accusations
DALLAS — Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle has fired two officers accused of holding country music singer Steve Holy and a friend at gunpoint last month during a game of foosball.
The two officers — Randy Anderson, 25, and Paul Loughridge, 48 — each face a charge of deadly conduct in connection with the Dec. 27 incident. "Their behavior that night is disturbing and not consistent with how we expect our Dallas police officers to perform," said Kunkle, who fired them Friday.
In this case, deadly conduct is a Class A misdemeanor that is punishable by a fine of up to $4,000 and one year in jail.
After Holy and his friend met the two officers at a bar, they went back to Holy's house to play foosball, police records said.
According to Dallas police reports, the four were drinking and playing foosball about 5:30 a.m. when Anderson began questioning the identity of Holy, whose songs include "Brand New Girlfriend."
Holy and his friend told police that Anderson and Loughridge pointed their guns at them and told them to get on the ground.
Before the officers left, the report says Anderson told Holy that he'd kill him if he said anything about the incident.
Holy declined to comment on the firings. "I have a lot to say when it's time to say it," he said.
Toby Shook, an attorney representing Holy, said the firings were "a no-brainer on Chief Kunkle's part."
"It's clear that everyone who has looked at the facts of the case have found these two officers aren't credible," Shook said. "They're the ones that got fired. They're the ones that fled the scene that night; the victims called 911 right away."
Loughridge declined to comment about that night except to say, "After listening to the 911 tapes, the level of credibility given these two gentlemen is astounding, and in fact, it's actually scary."
Anderson had no comment except that he said he agreed with Loughridge.
In the 911 call, the operator sounds frustrated by an inability to get information from Holy, who tells her several time that he's a recording artist.
"Here's the problem, ma'am. I'm a recording artist, and — ma'am? Are you listening to me?" he says at one point.
When she tries to ask Holy if the two officers left together, Holy answers: "He put a gun to our heads."
"OK, you told me that at least five or six times," she says. "I have that. I understand that."
Shook has acknowledged that his client had been drinking, but said the confusion heard on the 911 call came from the horror of what happened.
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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com
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