BELLVILLE— During a townhall meeting recently held in Bellville, Pastor JR Johnson told the crowd of about 50 people that the incident involving Betty Smith and the employees at the Lindemann Store in Industry on Jan. 15 was being brought to the attention of the FBI.
Contact with the FBI confirmed that the incident is under review.
The FBI Houston Office released a statement that reads: The FBI is aware of the incident and takes allegations of federal law violations seriously. The FBI reviews allegations of criminal conduct for their merit and, when warranted, conducts further investigation. It is important to note that a review of allegations does not necessarily result in the opening of a federal investigation.
The FBI is reviewing an incident that happened at Lindemann’s Store when Betty Smith found a $50 bill on the floor of the store and was physically re strained by store employee’s when she tried to leave with the money. The door was also locked to keep her from exiting if she was able to get away from the employee holding her.
The incident continued to spiral when Smith’s daughter and granddaughter arrived and allegedly assaulted the employees.
One of the main complaints that was brought up is that there are no black deputies within the department except white and Hispanics. The Banner Press reached out to Austin County Sheriff Jack Brandes for his policy on hiring deputies and to give him a chance to explain why there are no black deputies.
His office sent back the reply, "Under current circumstances, the Austin Coun- ty Sheriff's Office does not wish to make any statements. Thank you.”
The Austin County Grand Jury considered all potential charges in the matter and it made the recommendation that no criminal charges be filed on any of the parties involved. The Austin County District Attorney's office did not file any criminal charges. The jury consisted of a jury of their peers.
The District Attorney's Office provided clear video and frame by frame evidence that contradicts the initial reports that the employees first laid hands on Smith.
Smith, in fact, hit the store manager, aged 17, with her basket several times, then grabbed the store manager by the throat. At that time, store employees briefly restrained Smith from causing bodily injury to the store manager.
The daughter and granddaughter of Smith arrived on the scene and created additional assaults against the store employee.
According to the grand jury, the officer on the scene made the judgement based on what he saw when he arrived on the scene and with video taken by a bystander. The grand jury took no issue with the performance of the deputy.
For full details and disclosure, Austin County District Attorney Travis Koehn has posted its press release and other relevant information online at https://www. austincounty.com/page/austincountyda. press.releases.
