NFL running back Ryan Moats and his wife received a phone call last week that Moats’ mother-in-law was literally on her death bed, about to succumb to cancer. So Moats and his family piled into his SUV and headed to the hospital to say their goodbyes.

Prior to reaching the hospital, Moats went through a red light — with his hazards on and after getting waived through by another motorist. At this point, a Plano cop got into hot pursuit, following Moats to the hospital with his lights and siren on.

The officer stopped Moats in the hospital parking lot and held him for 13 minutes as he issued him a citation. Through all of this, Moats and his wife pleaded with the officer to let them go up and see their dying relative.

The officer berated them, threatened them and pulled his weapon, all while hospital personnel pleaded with the officer to allow them to enter the hospital.

All of this was captured on the in-dash camera of Officer Robert Powell, who has since been put on paid administrative leave. The Plano police chief offered his apologies to the family and seemed genuinely embarrassed that one of his officers pulled this stunt.

Said Police Chief David Kunkle:

“His behavior in my opinion, did not exhibit the common sense, discretion, the compassion that we expect our officers to exhibit.”

…

When we in the command staff reviewed the tapes, we were embarrassed, disappointed — it’s hard to find the right words and still be professional in my role as a police chief.”

After the officer pointed his gun at Moats’ wife, the officer spent 13 minutes writing a ticket and threatening Moats with jail for running a red light.

“I can screw you over,” Powell can be heard saying. “I’d rather not do that.”

After arriving at the hospital and being stopped by the officer, Moats’ wife, Tamishia, and great-aunt got out of the car to go inside. At this point, the officer ordered them back in the car at gunpoint, something they both ignored.

Tamishia and the great-aunt got into the hospital in time to see her mother, while Moats and the father of the dying woman remained outside with the officer. Moats pleaded with the officer to just give him a ticket as quickly as possible so they could go inside, but was instead lectured by the 25-year old officer about how he could be going to jail.

“Understand what I can do,” Powell said. “I can tow your truck. I can charge you with fleeing. I can make your night very difficult.”

The hospital staff came outside to plead with the officer to let them go see the dying woman, and the officer continued to write the ticket, check for warrants and lecture Moats.

When he finally finished and they got inside, the woman had passed away with Tamishia by her bedside.

Now, I’m not sure if Officer Powell broke any specific codes or laws, but if I’m the chief of the Plano PD, this guy will never work in my town again. To be that insensitive, and simply, that much of an asshole, is all the proof you need that this will indeed happen again. A man who doesn’t care about someone’s dying relative, and feels the need to lecture a grief-stricken family about the importance of respecting the police is a man who will likely end up in a similar situation again. Everyone involved here is lucky that the Moats family was so well-mannered and cool-headed throughout the ordeal.

When you stand by with your weapon drawn issuing a ticket while two men stand outside as their mother-in-law and daughter die, you are in the wrong line of work. Anything less than outright dismissal from the police force is the wrong outcome.

And if I’m Ryan Moats, my lawyer is already beginning the paperwork to sue Powell and the Plano PD. The video evidence is quite clear on what happened and that Powell intentionally inflicted emotional pain on this family.

Moats believes that Powell should lose his job and has said that he thinks race played a role in this situation. Moats is black, Powell is white.

Additionally, Powell made more comments after the situation calmed down to a fellow officer, that were also caught on the dash-cam that implied that he had lied about a pursuit situation back in January, and may have broken code in doing so. This guy is a real keeper.

Surely we have not heard the end of this story.

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