A Texas police officer was captured on video wildly spraying pepper spray at a group of motorcyclists as they drove by him on Sunday afternoon. The officer has been removed from patrol duty while police investigate.
A police spokeswoman confirmed that Officer Figueroa (no first name was given) used the pepper spray and even documented it in a report, according to NBC DFW. Five people were treated at the scene of the spray and one man had to be taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Video of the incident was posted to YouTube by one of the motorcyclists – and quickly went viral:
Authorities claim that they had received several 911 calls from drivers reporting hundreds of motorcyclists weaving in and out of traffic along Highway 287. NBC DFW notes that the same YouTube channel contains at least one video showing dozens of trick riders performing dangerous stunts on highways, driving in emergency lanes, and riding in both lanes of traffic.
Brittany Botello was part of the group. She was driving a red pickup truck – complete with people standing on the bed of the vehicle recording the motorcyclists – and was pulled over by Figueroa shortly before the incident – which CBS DFW recaps:
Figueroa had yet to approach her truck, Botello recalled, when she and her passengers suddenly began coughing. “I thought it was sand up off the bikes that was making everyone choke and stuff, but it ended up being the mace,” she said.
Marcus Hernandez said that he was sitting in the bed of the truck when he saw a cloud of the spray drifting toward him. “I got asthma, so I couldn’t breathe. It was pretty bad,” Hernandez explained. “I said, ‘Why you’d spray us?’ and he said, ‘Because I felt the bikes were too close to my vehicle.’”
Botello said that the officer then opened her passenger door and grabbed her friend’s cell phone, claiming that it was evidence in the case. “He snatched her phone without even asking for it. That’s when he started demanding everybody else’s,” she said.
Botello and her passengers were eventually given their phones back, along with a ticket for not having a driver’s license.
Police are investigating, but Botello only wants one thing.
“I think he needs to be fired,” she told CBS DFW
