‘Illegal Kidnapping’: ‘Rogue’ Texas Deputy Lied About Having Warrant to Arrest Black Woman Then Took Her Key and Ransacked Her Home
Using an imaginary warrant, a Texas sheriff’s deputy arrested an innocent Black woman named Lenisha Janea Parker before using her house key to ransack her home. Harris County sheriff’s deputy Kenneth “Daniel” Price then transported her to jail, where she was strip-searched and locked in an overcrowded cell over the weekend, not even allowed to contact her children to explain her whereabouts. But despite no warrant existing, Harris County magistrate judge Lisa Gail Porter took the word of Price that there was a warrant for her arrest out of Tarrant County, imposing a $5,000 bond for her release, according to Parker’s lawsuit, obtained by Atlanta Black Star. Harris County sheriff's deputy Kenneth "Daniel" Price is being sued for arresting an innocent Black woman on a "fabricated" warrant that did not exist. (Photo: Lenisha Janea Parker) Turns out, Price was actually looking for her ex-husband, John Scott Taylor, who was wanted for stealing cash from ATMs, a crime to which he eventually pleaded guilty. But that had nothing to do with Parker. White Women Demanded Black Children Leave Playground So Their Dogs Could Roam Free and When Mom Refused They Called the Cops, She Says Now Parker is suing Price, Parker and Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez for allowing a long-running pattern to violate the rights of Black and Hispanic citizens for almost a decade. According to the lawsuit: The HCSO deputies average about 1800 arrests per year according to public records, about 5% of its arrests are unlawful false arrest without probable cause, and over 83% of the arrest without probable cause are against African American/Black or Latino/Hispanic, a steady average since 2018 until present and there is no retraining or discipline for intentional false arrest. This is a clear pattern of violation of equal protection. There was a culture of silence, concealment and toleration of such conduct, and there was a failure to train resulting in the unreasonable force and false arrest. The violation of her rights and loss of freedom left Parker with post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic anxiety and depression, the claim states. “She had to go see a psychiatrist,” her attorney, U.A. Lewis, told the Houston Chronicle. “She was just absolutely paralyzed by the whole situation.” The lawsuit accuses the defendants of violating Parker’s Fourth and 14th Amendment rights. The Unlawful Arrest The incident took place in January 2023 after Price confronted Parker outside a Chipotle during her lunch break from her job, arresting her without explaining why. “Ms. Parker, startled and confused, repeatedly asked what she was being arrested for but Price gave no explanation,” the claim states. More cops arrived, including one who patted her down, handcuffed her, and placed her in the back of a Black SUV, which did not appear to be a patrol car because there was no rear partition to separate suspects under arrest from officers in the front seat. The officers then drove her to her house, which was a short distance away, demanding she give them permission to search the home, which she refused unless she was able to accompany them. Instead, they took the keys from her purse and unlocked the front door to her home, where three officers searched it without a warrant or consent. While handcuffed, Parker demanded to see a warrant, but no warrant was ever produced because no warrant ever existed with her name on it. Price then transported her to jail, where he was unable to complete the paperwork since no warrant for her arrest existed. “Despite this, she remained jailed and incommunicado from Friday until Sunday,” the claim states. “A bond could not be posted because she was not in the system.” “Price conspired with other law enforcement officers to carry out this illegal kidnapping and false imprisonment, causing her to miss returning to work on that Friday.” Despite no record on file for an active warrant, Porter, the magistrate judge, went along with Price’s lies, the plaintiff says. “(Porter) failed to protect or intervene as Lenisha Parker’s constitutional rights were violated,” the claim states. “She had no charges against Parker in her system and she failed to investigate.” “She concluded Ms. Parker should be held on a $5,000 bond for a felony warrant that did not exist.” It’s not clear why Parker would’ve been granted a bond by a Harris County court if she was being held on a warrant from another jurisdiction. ‘Rogue Law Enforcement Officer’ But the nightmare continued after she was released from jail because Price continued to stalk and intimidate her, the claim states. After Ms. Parker’s release, Daniel Price called Ms. Parker and “apologized,” admitting that she had done nothing wrong and that there was no valid warrant. But the harassment did not stop. In the weeks that followed, Ms. Parker was affected by Price’s stalking her. Price would frequently park down the street from her house. He would follow her in traffic. He even appeared at her workplace. On May 3, 2023, Defendant Price returned to Ms. Parker’s home without cause. He loitered in the vicinity, surveilling her residence. This behavior amounted to more than stalking; it felt like intimidation to her. Price again contacted Ms. Parker, this time threatening her 78-year-old aunt by phone, stating he would “bust her screen door down.” He was acting as a rogue law enforcement officer and color of law. And this was hardly an isolated incident, the claim states, but more like a long-established pattern approved by Sheriff Gonzalez. And despite having to remain in jail for three days, there is no record of her arrest listed in the Harris County online court system, which is one reason why her attorney refers to the arrest as a “kidnapping.” “Price conspired with other law enforcement officers to carry out this illegal kidnapping and false imprisonment, causing her to miss returning to work on that Friday,” the claim states. “She experiences acute fear whenever she sees law enforcement, and cannot drive without suffering chest tightness and emotional distress,” the lawsuit continues. “Her arrest was not only unlawful, it was entirely fabricated by the admission of Price.”
