*A disabled military veteran says he was mocked by Dallas cops after he urinated on himself when they refused to let him use a restaurant bathroom, reports the Dallas Morning News.
Former Army Sgt. DyNell Lane said employees at Serious Pizza would not allow him to use the men’s room on June 10, and two off-duty police officers who were working security refused to look at his medical paperwork.
DyNell, who was wounded during deployment in Afghanistan and Kuwait, ended up urinating on himself before later callin 911. Two on-duty police officers arrived after the incident and bodycam footage appears to show the four officers mocking Lane. One of the responding officers is shown in the video laughing and saying: “So you guys made a guy pee himself?”
One of the off-duty cops replies, “Yes,” while smiling and the other slaps his knee and starts laughing after the male officer says Lane called 911.
“He got mad you guys wouldn’t let him use the restroom and then he calls back and said it’s okay he doesn’t need to pee anymore because he soiled,” the on-duty female officer says before the video ends.
Watch below:
Lane reported the incident and attended a Dallas police oversight board meeting on August 8, telling the members: “Two Dallas police officers discriminated against me and declined to assist me in bridging the gap between myself and the Serious Pizza manager. I had higher expectations from the city. Please hear me when I ask all to make change so no one with a disability will endure what I had to endure.”
Board member Jonathan Maples, a Marine veteran, said of Lane’s account: “That absolutely turned my stomach. It’s absolutely appalling to treat one of our veterans that way.”
Derric Pegram, who also sits on the board, pointed to Dallas police code of conduct which says officers should not ridicule, mock, taunt or belittle anyone on or off duty.
“If he had not even shown the card, he is still a person,” he said. “He didn’t need to talk about his disability.”
Lane had surgery on his lower extremities after he was injured during deployment. He told the oversight board he was medically evaluated out of combat and that his condition, “leaves me in a constant depression and suicidal at times because of the shame of asking strangers for help while in public.”
Texas and other states have a restroom access law known as “Ally Law,” which says people who are lawfully on the premises of a business should be granted access to a bathroom if they provide evidence they have a medical condition where they need immediate toilet access.
Lane said: “If a retail establishment chooses to ignore a person who is trying to present such documents, they should be held accountable, for this is why [the Americans With Disabilities Act] is in place.”
The restaurant told The Dallas Morning News that its owner is also a veteran and was unaware of the incident until the bodycam footage was released. “We are sad and disappointed to have learned about the way he was treated in the vicinity of our restaurant,” Serious Pizza said in a statement. “We are disheartened that we didn’t have the opportunity to resolve the situation in real time.”
The off-duty police officers appear in an internal affairs document as James Smith and Juan Figueroa Lua. However, the on-duty cops have not been named. The internal affairs administrative investigation is ongoing, police said.
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