KELLER, Texas — A North Texas police officer has pleaded guilty to official oppression over the pepper-spraying and arrest of a man who was filming his son's interactions with police, officials announced.
Blake Shimanek, a former Keller police sergeant, pleaded guilty Thursday in the incident, which happened in August 2020, according to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office.
Official oppression is a Class A misdemeanor.
As a result of his plea, Shimanek had to forfeit his peace officer license, meaning he can't work in law enforcement in Texas, prosecutors said.
Shimanek will enter the Public Safety Employee Treatment Court, a diversion program run by a Tarrant County judge. If he completes the diversion program, which takes nine months to two years, the judge can dismiss his case.
He faces up to one year in jail if he fails to complete the program.
"Our top priority is to make sure that he never works in law enforcement in Texas again," Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said in the news release. "That has been accomplished. We also consulted with the victim and he agreed to this plea."
The incident involving Shimanek happened on Aug. 15, 2020.
Dillon Puente, 22, was on his way to his grandmother’s house, when he was stopped by police in the Riverdance neighborhood.
His dad, Marco Puente, was following Dillon to his grandma’s house, and he stopped his vehicle after he saw his son was pulled and began filming the encounter.
Bodycam video shows Shimanek threaten Marco Puente with arrest if he continued to remain in the roadway with his truck.
After obeying the order to move his vehicle, Marco started recording his son’s arrest on his cellphone, while he was waiting on the sidewalk across the street from the scene.
Bodycam video showed Shimanek ask Dillon to get out of the car before he places him in handcuffs. In a police report obtained by WFAA, Shimanek said he detained Dillon because he was worried about his safety.
Bodycam video then shows Shimanek ordering officer Ankit Tomer to arrest Marco, too. Then Shimanek took Marco to the ground, trying to arrest him and spraying him in the face with pepper spray.
“The officer didn’t like me being there recording anything,” Marco previously told WFAA.
“They tried to take me down and pepper spray me, and it was a fiasco.”
The Puente family ultimately sued the city of Keller over civil rights violations, and they settled their claim for $200,000, officials said.