Robert Powell, the Dallas police officer that stopped NFL player Ryan Moats and his family and detained them while a relative died, resigned from the police force because of the incident. Powell had been on paid administrative leave since the incident while it was being investigated.

In a statement made through his attorneys, Powell said that he was resigning to allow the police department and others affected by this to move on.

“I made this decision in the hope that my resignation will allow the Dallas Police Department, my fellow officers and the citizens of Dallas to better reflect on this experience, learn from the mistakes made, and move forward.”

Powell also made an apology to the Moats family, saying “I still hope to speak with the Moats family to personally express my deep regret, sympathy, and to apologize for my poor judgment and unprofessional conduct.”

Powell stopped Moats for running a red light en route to the hospital, where Moats’ mother-in-law was dying. Moats had stopped to check for traffic before proceeding through the light, then was stopped by Powell.

When Moats and his three passengers got out of the car to enter the hospital, Powell drew his weapon and told them they could not leave. Moats wife and another relative disregarded the order and entered the hospital anyway.

Moats pleaded with the officer to just give him a ticket and let him go inside, and even when hospital staff came out to help him plead his case, Powell wouldn’t let him go. Instead, Powell threatened to make the situation even worse and lectured Moats in the process.

By the time that Powell finished writing tickets and released Moats, Moats’ mother-in-law had passed away.

Moats’ showed tremendous restraint and patience at the time of the incident, and showed he is a bigger man than most by accepting the apology offered by Powell earlier this week.

During the incident, the dashboard cam also captured Powell speaking to another officer about an incident in the past in which Powell may have lied in his paperwork. Clearly this man was not cut out to be a cop.

Now what is he going to do with his badge tattoo?

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