Because of a recent attempt to have YouTube remove a TDMR-produced video about the September 2012 DWI arrest of Jack Stick, a former Texas state Rep, municipal court judge and currently Texas HHSC-OIG’s Deputy Inspector General for Enforcement, TDMR committed to putting online the full dash cam video of the arrest.
Stick had told the Austin press back in October 2012 when his arrest first became public that “blood tests and other evidence would vindicate him.” However Stick never participated in police field sobriety tests per the dash cam video nor a blood test per arrest documents. Stick’s case is still before the Travis County Criminal Court almost a year and a half later.
This video archive is now on TDMR’s YouTube channel and several other video-sharing sites to ensure this public document is kept available to the taxpayers of Texas.
TDMR has edited the Austin police dash cam video and broken it down into seven short segments to facilitate ease of viewing and highlighting the process that led to Stick’s arrest.
Erratic Driving – The dash cam shows the Austin police car catching up with Stick’s vehicle and some of the erratic driving that led to the stop.
Pull Over – Stick in his vehicle is questioned by the Austin police officer.
Initial Questioning – Stick, now standing in a parking lot, is interviewed about his health and drinking that night.
Refusal to take sobriety tests – Stick tells officer that he will not take police sobriety tests.
DWI Indicators – Stick challenges the officer to tell him the indicators that led him to stop Stick and interview him for DWI. Prominent is Stick’s breath having the smell of alcohol despite telling the officer he had not had a drink for hours.
Sobriety Tests Don’t Work – Stick, a former state Rep and municipal court judge, tells the officer that he knows that Texas police sobriety tests don’t work.
The Arrest – The officer, despite Stick’s refusal, takes him through the field sobriety tests, again offering to send him home without arrest if he passes. Stick again refuses and is arrested.