Photo by Lillian Juarez
An investigation into four Dallas police officers, accused of laughing at a disabled veteran who urinated himself after he was denied restroom access at Serious Pizza, is resuming following a temporary hold, Kristin Lowman, Assistant Director/Public Information Officer for the Dallas Police Department told the Advocate.
According to Dynell Lane, a veteran and Dallas native, an employee of Serious Pizza denied him entry to the restaurant’s bathroom on June 10. When Lane asked two uniformed off-duty Dallas police officers working security for assistance, they also denied him entry.
According to Lane, the officers refused to check his medical identification records which led him to call 911. While serving as a sergeant for the U.S. Army, Lane told the board he suffered life-threatening injuries during his deployment in Afghanistan and Kuwait, leading to surgeries on his lower extremities. However, on-duty police officers didn’t arrive on time. As a result, Lane said he experienced urine and bowel leakage inside the restaurant.
“It has been a constant fight having to explain myself about my disability just to get assistance from public servants and other businesses when I’m out and about,” Lane told the Community Police Oversight Board during an Aug. 8 meeting.
After Lane vacated Serious Pizza, body camera footage from one of the two on-duty police officers showed them entering the restaurant and approaching the two other off-duty officers who engaged with the veteran.
“You guys made a guy pee himself?” one of the on-duty officers says as she laughs.
The officers appear to continue laughing about Lane’s 911 call to report the officers.
The video prompted an investigation by the Community Police Oversight Board, which was later put on hold for an undisclosed amount of time, although Dallas Police were unable to clarify the timeline due to a “personnel matter.”
The investigation was reopened during a Community Police Oversight Board meeting on Feb. 13.
Lanes said as a disabled veteran of the U.S. Army he had higher expectations.
“The Dallas Police Department failed me, ” he said in the Aug. 8 meeting.
According to the Restroom Access Act, also known as Ally’s Law, retail businesses with employee toilet facilities must allow customers with specific medical conditions to access them upon proof. The law falls under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Many states – including Texas — have passed Ally’s Law to acknowledge this medical need.
