Lancaster police say they don’t have Wal-Mart video
Posted by Mike Florio on February 26, 2015, 4:53 PM EST
When Ian Rapoport of NFL Media secured and published the police report from a July 11, 2011 incident at a Lancaster, Texas Wal-Mart, the chase for the surveillance video corresponding to that incident intensified.
First up, the Dallas Morning News attempted to get the video from the Lancaster, Texas police.
“Rona Stringfellow, assistant city manager for Lancaster, said in an email that the police department has no video of the incident,” writes David Moore of the Morning News.
It’s not surprising that the Lancaster police doesn’t have the video. The responding officer, M.L. Johnson, makes no mention of reviewing the video or of preserving it in his report. Absent a follow-up report, there’s no reason to think the Lancaster, Texas police ever had a copy of the video in their files.
The more likely custodians of the video are Wal-Mart, which undoubtedly had a video of what happened in the parking lot at some point in time, and the Dallas County District Attorney. On Friday, February 20, I made a written request to the Dallas County District Attorney for the incident report and video under the Texas Public Information Act; I’ve yet to get a response.
Wal-Mart may have the video either at its Lancaster, Texas store or at the corporate office in Bentonville, Arkansas. It has no legal obligation to release the video, but there’s likely no legal prohibition on doing so, either.
In addition to the inevitable requests that will be made to the potential custodians of the video, don’t be surprised to learn that members of the media are actively seeking comment from Carl King, Christopher Mitchell, Alex Penson, and the alleged victim. All four are mentioned in the report, and all four may be able to answer some of the lingering questions regarding the incident and the investigation of it.
