A cold welcome home for naval officer
By GARY REAVES / WFAA ABC 8
As Navy Petty Officer Justin Tyler flew home last week from the base where he had been stationed in Rota, Spain, he was thinking about his young wife, his new baby, and taking them both to church.
He was hoping for some rest and relaxation during his 12-day leave back home in Dallas, but instead he got restrained and arrested upon arrival at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport - all while his wife and new baby waited in the terminal.
And the worst part? It was for a crime he did not commit.
As soon as he stepped off the plane, Tyler was arrested on charges of dealing drugs in Waller County, northwest of Houston.
"They cuffed me right there," Tyler recalled. "(They) drug me through the airport in cuffs and led me to a holding cell."
Customs officers at the airport made the arrests, but they were just following procedures. Their computer showed two felony arrest warrents for Tyler, and they had the right birthdate, driver's license and other information to prove they had the right man.
Tyler said he didn't even know where Waller County was located.
"I had the cops booking me look it up on Mapquest," he said.
The indictment put Tyler selling a controlled substance, Xanax, at Charlie's Hamburgers near the town of Hempstead. However, Navy records proved Tyler was really on duty in San Diego. The indictments were dismissed, but his trip home was ruined. He had only 12 days' leave, and he spent two of those in jail.
Prosecutors in Waller County said it is often difficult for undercover officers to identify suspects from whom they buy drugs. They could not explain how or why they decided to indict Tyler. When News 8 contacted the county, Assistant District Attorney Dale Summa couldn't explain the mix-up.
"I can't give that information out, even if I knew," Summa said.
Said Tyler's wife, Lydia: "We need to find out how this happened, so it doesn't happen again."
The indictment is still on Tyler's record. He and his wife are paying a lawyer $1,000 to get it removed. To the Tylers, it hardly seems fair.
"He didn't do anything but serve his country ... and this was his welcome home," Lydia Tyler said.
This is NOT Fair!!!!!!!!
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