‘Please Stop!’: Texas Cop Drags Black Mother Out of Car, Slams Her to Ground and Jails Her for Littering After She Tosses Citation Out Window
A Black woman was yanked out of her car by a Texas police officer, slammed to the ground, and jailed for littering after she tossed a speeding citation from her car onto the street during a traffic stop earlier this year.
National civil rights attorney Lee Merritt has agreed to represent the woman, Taneisha Thompson, saying the Hurst police officer used excessive force over a minor infraction that could have been enforced with a simple citation.
“It’s traumatizing. I was very scared,” Thompson told local media.
Merritt posted a video of the incident on Wednesday on his social media pages. The video, recorded by the woman’s dash camera, shows her refusing to accept a speeding citation from the officer, who tried to hand it to her through her driver’s-side window.
When the officer tossed the citation into her car, she threw it back out and told him, “I don’t want it.”
“That’s littering. Step out of the car,” the officer replied, reaching inside her vehicle to open the door from the inside.
“Don’t do that,” Thompson responded.
The officer grabbed her wrist and began pulling her out of the car while she repeatedly asked for his supervisor. The officer, who identified himself as a corporal, told her he was the supervisor, but she insisted on someone of a higher rank.
The woman’s 15-year-old son, who was sitting in the passenger seat, tried to de-escalate the situation by urging his mother to take the ticket. But when the officer used both arms to pull his mother out of the car, the boy pleaded for him to stop.
“Please stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!” the son yelled as the officer held his mother by the neck, pulling her from the car.
The officer ultimately dragged her out and arrested her with the assistance of two other officers who arrived at the scene.
“This is a fine-only ticket,” read a caption on Merritt’s video.
“Texas law is designed for this to end with a citation and release, not a trip to jail.”
Watch the video below.
‘An Example of Everything That is Wrong With American Policing’
The incident occurred on Jan. 16, according to a Hurst Police Department press release posted Thursday on its Facebook page.
The department said internal affairs investigated the encounter and cleared the officers involved, but offered few details.
On January 16, 2026, Hurst officers conducted a traffic stop that resulted in an arrest. A formal complaint was filed on January 20, 2026, alleging excessive force, and an internal investigation was opened. The claims were determined to be unfounded, and the investigation was closed.
“That’s awesome—you investigated yourselves, found no wrongdoing, and still won’t share details. Thanks for keeping us informed,” one commenter wrote in response to the department’s post.
Many commenters were critical of the investigation, though a few defended the police.
“People know the Hurst Police Department is known for racial profiling,” one person wrote.
“Taking that aside, this officer’s ego was running things. He threw the ticket at her, escalating the situation. Interesting that you investigate yourselves and find the complaint unfounded. Where is the oversight?”
Merritt said Thompson was traveling through Hurst with her son when she was stopped for speeding. He said she believed she was being racially profiled but complied with the law by providing identification.
She refused to accept the citation as a form of protest, prompting the officer to throw it into her car. She instinctively tossed it out of the window, he said in the description of the video.
What happened next is an example of everything that is wrong with American policing. This officer had three clear options:
1. Issue a second citation for littering using the information he already had.
2. Walk away—the citation had already been issued.
3. Instead, he chose to snatch this mother out of her vehicle in front of her child, slam her to the ground, seriously injure her, and take her to jail… where she was ultimately issued a citation and then released to the hospital for treatment of the injuries caused during the arrest.
The Hurst Police Department said in its statement that the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office is continuing to review the case, adding: “Because of this, we are unable to release additional information at this time.”
Merritt acknowledged that police officers do have discretion to ask drivers to exit their cars, but such orders should be based on legitimate safety concerns — not emotion or ego.
In this case, the woman was upset but never threatening.
“Discretion on minor offenses is supposed to be guided by safety and seriousness, not by an officer’s feelings,” Merritt wrote in the description of the video.
Atlanta Black Star has requested the arrest report and body camera footage, but Hurst police have not yet responded.