A trio of Odessans was taken to jail over the weekend after police officers said they attacked them.
According to an Odessa Police Department arrest affidavit, officers saw Valerie Cabello, 33, Mario Baeza, 30, and Gerardo Salas, 23 getting into a fight with a woman at Club Tequila on East Eighth Street around 2 a.m. Sunday.
A video of a small portion of the incident began making the rounds Sunday on social media, prompting the Odessa Police Department to release a statement on Monday, stating all of the officers involved in the incident have been cleared of any wrong-doing.
Details of the incident contained in Monday’s statement differ from those contained in an OPD arrest affidavit.
According to the arrest affidavit, an off-duty officer was attempting to take Baeza into custody when Baeza and Cabello began to push the officer away. When officers tried to take Cabello into custody, they said she started punching an officer in the face and in the groin.
While Cabello was being taken into custody, a handcuffed Baeza ran away and Salas hit an officer in the head with brass knuckles, the arrest affidavit states.
Officers caught Baeza about 30 yards away and were able to take him and Salas into custody, according to the arrest affidavit.
In Monday’s statement, OPD stressed the video only captured a 19-second “snippet” of the event and then goes on to describe it.
Odessa American media partner CBS7 posted a 19-second “snippet” on its website that can be seen at tinyurl.com/ycnxkn25.
According to the statement, officers detained two men following the initial fight and Cabello interfered by pushing and pulling on an officer. At that point, another man struck the officer with brass knuckles and another officer showed up to detain Cabello as she tried to get back to the man being arrested.
According to the statement, Cabello was placed against a vehicle so “the officer could gain better control of her,” but she turned and started punching him in the face.
The officer hit Cabello in the upper torso and “eventually threw her to the ground to create space and stop her resistance.”
At that point, Cabello flipped onto her stomach and started punching the officer in the groin, according to the statement. She stopped resisting after being Tased.
According to the statement, the incident was investigated and reviewed by OPD’s Professional Standards Unit. After reviewing all of the bodycam footage, the unit decided the actions of all of the officers involved was justified, according to the OPD statement.
Cabello was booked into the Ector County jail on suspicion of two counts of assault on a public servant, resisting arrest, interfering with a public servant and public intoxication. She was released after posting surety bonds totaling $32,312.
Baeza was booked on suspicion of resisting arrest, escape and public intoxication. He was released after posting bonds of $3,312.
Salas was booked on suspicion of aggravated assault on a public servant, resisting arrest and public intoxication. Salas was released after posting surety bonds totaling $51,812.
