Black In Bellaire

In the Houston Chronicle: "A mistaken police dispatch about a stolen car led to an early morning shooting on Wednesday of a Bellaire man in his own driveway and a demand by his lawyers that the officer who shot him be brought up on criminal charges." Robert Tolan, who happens to be black, and his cousin Anthony Cooper, who happens to be white, returned home from a fast food restaurant where Tolan works. After they pulled into the driveway and exited the car two Bellaire police officers, acting on an erroneous report that the car was stolen, ordered Tolan and Cooper (both unarmed) to the ground. While on the ground "Tolan looked up to protest officers' treatment of his mother, who had been drawn outside by the commotion. He was then shot once by Bellaire police Sgt. Jeff Cotton. At least two other shots missed." Tolan's attorney, David Berg: "There's no doubt in my mind that if these had been two white kids, they never would have been shot."

Tolan was hospitalized and is expected to recover. Sergeant Cotton, a certified mental health officer and crime prevention inspector who has taken several cultural diversity classes, has been placed on administrative leave.

The Chronicle story notes that in 1995 Travis Allen, an unarmed 17-year-old, was shot in the back and killed by a Bellaire police officer as Allen lay on the floor with the officer's foot on Allen's back. A grand jury declined to indict the officer.