DALLAS, TX — Dallas police released dash cam and body cam video of the arrest of Allen West's wife. Angela Graham-West, 61, wife of Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen West, who was arrested Friday night for driving while intoxicated with child under 15 years old after a what was described as a traffic stop where police said she failed to use a turn signal when changing lanes. Candidate Allen West took to social media early Saturday morning decrying the arrest, claiming it was baseless. Later on Saturday, after Angela was released from jail on bond, West demanded an apology from the mayor of Dallas, the Dallas police chief, and the county attorney, all purportedly Democrats, though political party doesn’t appear to be the motivation for the arrest.
West claimed his wife was mistreated by the Dallas cop, a black woman named “L. Harris.” In addition, West threatened to become the DPD’s worst nightmare unless:
- He demands that DPD officer L. Harris be terminated
- He demands that the charges against his wife be dropped and her record made clean
- He demands that DPD Chief Edgardo “Eddie” Garcia, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, and Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot visit his home an apologize to his wife, his grandson who was a passenger of Mrs. West when she was arrested, and his grandson’s parents.
- He called for a review of the Dallas DWI unit and its funding sources.
Angela West described the arrest in her own words on Facebook.
“Officer Harris with the Dallas Police Department became ‘Aunt Lydia’ for those fans of The Handmaid's Tale. She became my personal tormentor. She “showed me the ropes,” wrote West. “My hands are swollen and bruised as are my shoulders and arms. I have been locked and restrained in the squad car in the sweltering heat …. After which I asked her how could a middle aged grandmother who is not inebriated harm you? She got out of the car, shut the door and leaned her backside against the window. She called another cop to “watch” me while she went to get a warrant to draw blood,” Angela wrote after the incident.
Watch the arrest on body cam and dash cam here:
Angela West arrest on Aug, 20, 2021
We asked several law enforcement officers what they thought about the way the DPD officer handled the arrest. They said that in general, Angela West committed some key actions DWI suspects usually do. First, all we talked to agreed that her driving was poor, occasionally slipping out of her lane and straddling the improved shoulder. Second, when initially pulled over, she stopped in the middle of the roadway.
“Drunk drivers always do that,” one officer explained.
The inability of Angela West to follow instructions was likely exasperated by the DPD officer’s inability to competently provide instructions. The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test may offer a clue, because it appeared Angela West passed. The body cam video does not offer enough information about the vertical test, our experts agreed. Vertical tests usually will expose prescription drugs or narcotics.
Our law enforcement sources agreed that the incident did not look great for the DPD. However, all were willing to give the arresting officer the benefit of the doubt until the toxicology test results are released. In DWI blood tests for more normal incidents, if sent to the Department of Public Safety for processing, blood tests can take up to 6 months to return. For candidate Allen West, who has placed his reputation on the line by loudly defending his wife, 6 months is too long as it will take until at about the time early voting begins for the March 1, 2022 primary.
Dallas Police Chief Edgardo “Eddie” Garcia strongly defended his police officer during a press conference Monday. Watch:
Dallas police defends its officers
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