A veteran police sergeant in North Texas was arrested Tuesday and accused of stealing fancy new tennis shoes during a drug raid.
Sgt. Antoine Williams, 37, a supervisor in the Fort Worth Police Department's narcotics unit, took the sneakers during a search of a suspected drug house in East Fort Worth on Oct. 16, according to court documents.
Two officers involved in the raid reported what had happened, and the department's Special Investigations Section searched Williams' Arlington home on the following day, the documents said. Inside, investigators seized four pairs of shoes, including Air Jordans similar to the shoes missing in the drug raid.
The original drug raid quickly drew the attention of neighbors in the 4800 block of Richardson Street in Fort Worth.
"We looked at the window ... and police was everywhere, and they had the big old shotguns," Tanya Stephenson said.
Narcotics officers said in a sworn statement to obtain the search warrant that they had made some undercover drug buys from the man who lives there, Marquis Green.
But Green, 21, said police didn't find what they were looking for.
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"They didn't find no drugs in the house at all," he said. "They just took shoes that I ain't never wore."
As police were raiding his house, two officers pulled him over nearby, accused him of running a red light and took him to jail, Green said. He insists that he never ran any red light.
After a night in jail, he noticed several pairs of brand-new, expensive shoes were missing from his closet, along with a "Grand Theft Auto" video game and thousands of dollars in cash that he and his girlfriend were saving to rent an apartment, Green said.
Police reported finding $1,060 in the raid, but Green said he had closer to $3,000.
According to court documents, two officers tipped off the department that Williams, who was in charge of the drug raid, kept the pricey shoes.
Green's sister, who lives with him, said police officers who steal are no better than criminals.
"It's OK if you take the stuff you come to take, but don't take extra," Antquenette Green said.
"They is the bad guys, really," Marquis Green said. "They just got a badge on their side; that's the only thing."
Court records show Marquis Green has been arrested several times over the past few years on drug possession and theft charges.
Williams remains on restricted duty at the police department, which means he cannot carry a gun or badge.
He is the third Fort Worth police officer to be fired or accused of a crime in recent weeks.
Last month, Officer Douglas Campbell was arrested on charges of theft, official oppression and sexual assault in a scandal involving prostitutes.
On Oct. 11, Officer Ben Hanlon was fired after the department said he lied about the circumstances surrounding a drug arrest. Hanlon was involved in the fatal shooting of a Fort Worth homeowner earlier in the year.
