by TChris

After suffering a stroke in 1988, Albert Lane Sr. lost the use of his right shoulder. He still walks with a limp and speaks with a slur. The police in Sealy, Texas stopped him after they received a call from a woman who said Lane's passenger had stolen two bottles of beer from her store.

Lane, who said he drank a bottle of beer the night of his arrest and two beers earlier in the day, filed a complaint on Feb. 11 stating that the officers abused their authority when they pulled him from his truck, handcuffed him and dragged him face-down 35 feet from his truck to the patrol car in front of the store. ... "They scarred my knees and arms and knocked my front tooth out," said Lane[.]

Lane was arrested for public intoxication. The evidence of intoxication? Lane smelled like beer.

Lane is black. The Austin County Leadership Council, noting that the police department has no black officers, attributes the abuse of power to racism. The group would like Sealy "to form a citizens review committee, which would promote fair treatment and advancement of minorities."