Politics & Government
McKinney Councilman: 'I Could Have Handled It Differently'
"I could have handled it differently," the McKinney city councilman said of his arrest.
MCKINNEY, TX — A McKinney city councilman who was arrested Tuesday for speeding and refusing to sign his ticket is now backpedaling after first accusing the arresting officer of bias.
Councilman La’Shadion Shemwell, 31, was driving 55 miles-per-hour in a 35 miles-per-hour zone when he was pulled over, police said in a statement.
The arresting officer, K. Wilkerson, cited the councilman for speeding and for failure to change the address on his driver’s license within the required 30-day period.
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Shemwell was arrested after repeatedly refusing to sign a promise to appear before the court.
The councilman paid $359 cash bond and was released from jail Tuesday night, but he wasn't done with the situation.
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He told CBSDFW he thought police mishandled the situation, choosing to arrest him when a discretionary policy allowed him to be released from the traffic stop.
“None of them came together and said this is probably not a good idea for a city officers to be arresting a city council person for such a violation that we have discretion over it’s just not good for the city,” he told the news station.
He went further, saying police aimed to embarrass him.
“I think that was the intent of the officer all along was to humiliate me, embarrass me and show me that he was the boss,” Shemwell said.
Police Wednesday released the officer's body camera footage from the arrest, which shows Shemwell repeatedly telling the officer, "you're in really big trouble."
After the release, Shemwell told the Dallas Morning News he now takes responsibility for his "abrasive" and "argumentative" behavior.
"I could have handled it differently," Shemwell told the newspaper. "When you're used to being pulled over. And you're used to being pulled over for no reason ... then I was defensive from the very beginning."
Pete Schulte, an attorney and former McKinney police officer told The News police are allowed to arrest drivers who refuse to sign the citation.
"If you give the police any reason to believe that you're not going to take care of your business, then things happen, you get arrested," he told The News.
Image via Payton Potter, Patch staff
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