A Houston police officer has been relieved of duty in light of "ongoing questions" stemming from a botched drug raid that left a couple dead and five officers wounded, police said Thursday. It's not clear what role the officer played in the Jan. 28 bust at 7815 Harding, but law enforcement sources said his suspension comes amid a probe into questions over whether the sworn affidavit used to justify the no-knock warrant may have contained false information. It's not clear if the two developments are connected. Investigators are also reviewing whether internal police policies and procedures were followed during the drug investigation, sources said. "I know that in addition to the officer-involved shooting itself, many have questions regarding the circumstances surrounding the search warrant," Chief Art Acevedo said Thursday in response to news of the officer's suspension. "All of these questions are part of our ongoing criminal and administrative investigations." READ THE WARRANT: Search warrant from drug raid that left five officers injured released Instead of "releasing piecemeal information," Acevedo said, the department will report findings once they've wrapped up the internal investigation. He declined to identify or release any details about the officer in question and did not specify whether the investigation would focus on the possibility of false information in the affidavit. "When an officer-involved shooting occurs at HPD, we consider it a legal and moral obligation to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances leading up to and resulting in the officer-involved shooting," he said. "There is a lot of speculation as to the circumstances regarding this officer-involved shooting at 7815 Harding Street, but we urge everyone to let the investigation take its proper course and proceed to conclusion." As is standard practice with officer-involved shootings, the Harris County District Attorney's Office will launch a civil rights investigation into the case and eventually turn over findings to a grand jury. "Our Civil Rights Division prosecutors are currently working with the Houston Police Department's special investigation team to look at every aspect of this incident," District Attorney Kim Ogg said Thursday in a statement. "As is our policy, every shooting by a police officer — in every instance — is presented to a grand jury to determine if any criminal charges are warranted." Houston Police Officers' Union President Joe Gamaldi dismissed "rumors" about the suspended officer, adding that "nearly all" officers relieved of duty come back to work following an investigation. He said the probe has been hampered by the inability of the case agent to talk with investigators; the case agent was among those officers shot during the raid. "The department made the decision to relieve the officer of duty while a thorough investigation continues," he said. "Rumors will undoubtedly continue until the case agent is able to be interviewed. Unfortunately, his gunshot wound has resulted in him being incapacitated while surgeries continue. Any assumptions or conclusions made prior to the interview taking place are just assumptions." No-knock raid The drug probe leading up to the botched bust started on Jan. 8, when officials say an anonymous caller phoned police to complain that her daughter was "doing drugs" inside the Harding Street home. When officers showed up, they didn't see any suspicious activity, but stopped a passerby to ask if she'd called 911. She hadn't, but — according to what Acevedo told reporters at a Jan. 31 press conference — the woman allegedly turned back to her phone call and said, "Hey the police are at the dope house." Afterward, police launched a full-on investigation and eventually sent in a confidential informant, authorities said. That buy allegedly netted some quantity of heroin, though officials have never said how much of the drug they recovered. The next day, police used that purchase as a key piece of their request for a no-knock search warrant at the quiet Pecan Park home. In a three-page sworn affidavit, officers laid out their reasons for the raid. Before the buy, police said they met with the informant — who'd worked with them on 10 other cases — and searched the informant for drugs before the buy. The informant came out of the house, according to the court filing, and turned over a packet of a brown powder described as "boy," which is slang for heroin. The informant also warned police of a "large quantity" of drugs inside, packaged in plastic baggies, and a 9mm handgun, according to the court filing. When presented on Jan. 28 with the police affidavit — written by an officer whose name was redacted in public records — a municipal court judge signed off on the warrant. Hours later, police crashed through the couple's front door, sparking a gun battle that left Dennis Tuttle, Rhogena Nicholas and their pitbull dog dead. In the process, five officers were wounded, including four who were shot. Ultimately, investigators found small amounts of marijuana and cocaine, but no heroin. They also found two 12-gauge shotguns, a 20-gauge shotgun, a .22-caliber rifle and a second rifle — but no 9mm handgun described in the warrant. Mixed reactions Afterwards, the couple's friends and family pushed back on the idea that 59-year-old Tuttle — a disabled Navy veteran — and his wife could be drug users. Monique Caballero, a friend of the couple who has been outspoken in her questioning of the official narrative of the raid, gushed with anger and relief at hearing the news Thursday that the officer had been relieved of duty. "It's about time they look into what needs to be done," she said. "I firmly believe they went to the wrong house and now they're trying to cover it up, and it pisses me off that that head of the union wants to call my friend a dirtbag — you can't retract that. You can't retract and you can't bring back the dead." Union officials on Thursday pushed back on speculation that the raid took place at the wrong house. "To be clear, officers were not on the wrong street and entry was not made at random," Gamaldi said, in the union's statement. "We would refer you to the call slip from that location on Jan. 8, over two weeks prior to the shooting." Ashton Woods, a local activist who criticized the department's handling of the bust as well as the union's fiery response afterward, lauded news of the disciplinary action while still pushing for closer scrutiny. "This whole situation has been suspicious from the jump," he said. "I'm glad that they're being investigated but it sounds like it's time for Houston police to bring in an outside entity to investigate the case." Since the raid, the couple's home has been boarded up, with flags, balloons and flowers on the doorsteps and messages and a Bible verse scrawled on nailed-down wood. "Matthew 6:10-13 RIP", someone wrote on the door. In the Bible, that verse starts, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Neighbor Sarah Sanchez, 42, said she'd been friends with Tuttle and Nicholas for years, and that she'd frequently trusted them to take her kids to school. She never believed the couple was dealing drugs, she said. "The truth will all come out," she said. "It's not going to bring them back, but it's going to clear their names and bring them justice." Janie Aviles, 25, said she never knew Tuttle and Nicholas well but always saw them as nice people who waved and said hello when they crossed paths. She never thought her neighbors had drug activity — not enough people went in and out of the house. "(The police) should have done things differently," she said. "Maybe this wouldn't have happened." This story has been updated to correct what was scrawled on the door. NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.<doc-sep>Chief Acevedo urges the public to let the internal investigation that HPD is conducting “take its proper course and proceed to conclusion.” At least one of the narcotics officers involved in a search warrant that ended up in a shootout last week has been relieved of duty, the Houston Police Officers’ Union said Thursday. The officer is not one of five that were wounded in the raid. The HPOU said in a statement the relief of duty is “due to ongoing questions that cannot be answered until the case agent is interviewed.” The police union added that HPD “made the decision to relieve the officer of duty while a thorough investigation continues.” According to union officials, nearly all officers who are relieved of duty return to work after an investigation is completed. HPD Chief Art Acevedo also released a statement and said there is a lot of “speculation” about the circumstances of the shootout and urged the public to let the internal investigation that HPD is conducting “take its proper course and proceed to conclusion.” The statement said the department will report its findings at the conclusion of the investigation, rather than releasing information “piecemeal” as the case proceeds. Social media posts have fueled speculation about the circumstances surrounding the raid and subsequent shootout. Union officials tried to dispel those rumors, stating officers were not on the wrong street. The search warrant that led to the raid showed officers had reason to believe large quantities of heroin and guns were inside the house. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement prosecutors with the Civil Rights Division are working with HPD “to look at every aspect of this incident.” The policy of the DA’s office dictates that every shooting by a police officer is presented to a grand jury to determine if any criminal charges are warranted. EDITOR’s NOTE: The original version of this story erroneously reported the HPD officer who was relieved of duty is one of four that were wounded by gunfire during the raid. This story has been corrected. You can read the statement released by the HPOU here: Subscribe to Today in Houston Fill out the form below to subscribe our new daily editorial newsletter from the HPM Newsroom. Email* First Name Last Name * required<doc-sep>EMBED >More News Videos Police Union president Joe Gamaldi reacts to officer being relieved of duty. EMBED >More News Videos Here is how the officer-involved shooting in southeast Houston unfolded. EMBED >More News Videos HPD Chief Acevedo describes moments during deadly shootout between suspects and officers HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- According to the police union, an officer has been temporarily relieved of duty after the shootout at an alleged drug house in southeast Houston that killed a couple and left five officers wounded.The union would not confirm the officer's name, stating he is undercover.The Houston Police Officer's Union issued the following statement: "Rumors continue to spread around the shooting last month on Harding Street where 5 police officers were injured and 2 suspects died. To be clear, officers were not on the wrong street and entry at that location was not made at random. We would refer you to the call slip from that location on January 8th, over 2 weeks prior to the shooting. We have confirmed that at least one narcotics officer has been relieved of duty due to ongoing questions that cannot be answered until the case agent is interviewed. ""Our Civil Rights Division prosecutors are currently working with the Houston Police Department's special investigation team to look at every aspect of this incident," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. "As is our policy, every shooting by a police officer - in every instance - is presented to a grand jury to determine if any criminal charges are warranted. "Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said the officers "immediately came under fire" upon entering the home in the 7800 block of Harding on the city's southeast side in January. The suspects were killed. Four of the officers were shot and a fifth suffered a knee injury.According to the warrant obtained exclusively by ABC13, police believed the occupants were selling heroin out of the home, based on a tip from a confidential informant.An officer reportedly witnessed the informant buy heroin at the home on Harding. The informant described a man in the home, drugs and a weapon.The warrant identified the home in detail, but did not name the alleged suspects.The unnamed man was described as a white male, about 55 years old, roughly 5'11" and 180 pounds.Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his wife Rhogena Nicholas, 58, were killed in a gun battle when officers tried to serve the warrant.Nine narcotics detectives backed up by at least six patrol officers surrounded the home on Harding Street just before 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 28.After a 54-year-old officer, the lead investigator on the case, broke open the front door, a 33-year-old officer armed with a shotgun entered the residence and was immediately attacked by a pit bull, Acevedo said.He said that the officer being attacked shot and killed the dog.One of the suspects, Tuttle, charged from the back of the house firing a revolver at the officer, hitting him in the shoulder. "He went down and fell on the sofa in the living room," Acevedo said of the wounded officer. "A female suspect went towards that officer, reached over the officer and started making a move for his shotgun. "Another officer who entered the house was allegedly shot by Tuttle.Acevedo said officers opened fire, killing Nicholas and engaged in a gun battle with Tuttle.He said the lead investigator who breached the door, entered the house and was also shot. "After we had two officers down and another shot, the remaining officers ... started laying down cover fire, left positions of cover themselves and, I believe, they heroically pulled their fellow officers out of harm's way," Acevedo said.He said Tuttle followed the retreating officers to the front door and continued to fire at them before he was shot and killed.Police recovered two shotguns and three rifles from the residence and seized marijuana and a white powder they believe to be either cocaine or the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, Acevedo said.All of the officers involved are undercover narcotics officers. Their names will not be released.<doc-sep>
The Jan. 28 shootout injured five officers and killed two suspects inside a southeast Houston home. HOUSTON — A veteran Houston police narcotics detective has been temporarily relieved of duty due to ongoing questions about his role in last week’s raid that ended in a deadly shootout between two suspects and police. A department spokesperson confirmed that the senior police officer, who joined the department in 1996, must temporarily surrender his badge pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation. KHOU isn't naming the officer because he works undercover. “We certainly don’t want anyone to read too far into this,” said Joe Gamaldi, president of the Houston Police Officer’s Union. “There are officers that get relieved of duty and then come back to work with no discipline whatsoever.” The Jan. 28 shootout injured five officers and killed two suspects — Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas — inside the southeast Houston home. It is unclear what role the officer played in the raid, but three law enforcement sources say this officer is listed on the warrant. However, he did not write the warrant and is not the case agent who led the raid. According to three law enforcement sources, one focus of the investigation is about the validity of a purported controlled buy of suspected heroin in the 7800 block of Harding Street in southeast Houston. In a search warrant affidavit, the case agent wrote that a confidential informant purchased a brown powder substance known as “boy,” the street term for heroin, on Jan. 27. The following day, police executed that warrant and engaged in a shootout with Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo later said no heroin was recovered from the residence, but small amounts of marijuana and cocaine were found inside the home. Acevedo has ordered detectives to interview those confidential informants to determine if their story checks out with the information listed on the warrant, according to a high-ranking law enforcement source who did not want to be named because of the ongoing investigation. Reached by phone, Acevedo would not comment on specifics of the internal probe, but continued to pledge transparency and commitment to finding the truth. “We are not going to leave any stone unturned to get to the good, the bad and the ugly,” Acevedo said. “And when the investigation is completed, we will report back to the community our findings.” Contrary to rumors spread on social media, both the chief and the police union maintain that investigators executed the warrant at the correct house and that the location was not chosen at random. They cite a 911 call made Jan. 8 from an anonymous woman who claimed her daughter was doing drugs inside the home with a large number of weapons inside. The case agent on the warrant remains hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the face and is unable to speak. "Until we speak to the case agent, I think it would be impossible for anyone to draw any conclusions about another officer being relieved of duty," Gamaldi said. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is pledging take a hard look at the case. “Our Civil Rights Division prosecutors are currently working with the Houston Police Department’s special investigation team to look at every aspect of this incident,” Ogg said. “As is our policy, every shooting by a police officer — in every instance — is presented to a grand jury to determine if any criminal charges are warranted.”