A video circulating on social media shows a Zavala County sheriff’s deputy grabbing an older woman by the wrists and dragging her across the dirt as people nearby plead with him to stop.
The woman, Maria Robles, and her son, Roman, said the encounter followed a traffic stop outside their home on Oct. 3. In a public statement, the county said Roman tried to flee and resisted arrest, and that Maria assaulted a deputy as officers attempted to arrest him.
In the video, Deputy Aguilar is seen trying to bring Maria’s hands together to handcuff her. A person can be heard saying, “My mother’s sick,” while the deputy tells her to stop resisting. Later, someone says she is sick and asks the deputy to let her go.
Watch the full video below:
Maria said she felt dizzy and put her hands out to keep her balance. She said she has vertigo and that the encounter happened quickly.
“The officer didn’t wait for me to explain anything,” Maria said. “He just went straight to me and I felt dizzy and I put my hands like I was going to fall but I was trying to push myself away from him.”
Roman said deputies pulled in behind him as he drove into his front yard. He said he was told he did not have a driver’s license and acknowledged to KSAT that his license is suspended.
In a public statement, Zavala County said deputies conducted a traffic stop and Roman attempted to run away and resist arrest. The statement also said Maria assaulted a deputy while officers tried to arrest Roman.
Maria said she was charged with assault on a peace officer. The county’s statement said its investigation identified assault on a peace officer and interference. The statement also said Roman was arrested and charged with assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest and interference; the statement did not list a charge related to his driver’s license.
The video has drawn attention and differing reactions online. One commenter wrote, “violating the law does not forgive excessive force.” Another person online said both the woman and deputy acted wrongly, arguing that she should not have kicked or resisted and that the deputy should not have used excessive force.
KSAT emailed Zavala County multiple times this week asking for a comment on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning.
At 9:12 a.m. on Oct. 8, a county representative said the request had been forwarded and the department “should be getting back shortly”.
However, no response has been shared with KSAT as of late Thursday evening.
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