Lawsuits filed by three former Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office deputies draw a pattern of corruption and apathy in the department, two of those deputies said at a news conference Wednesday.

Brandon Walker, Phillip Hill and Nyla Coleman allege in the suits they were fired after lodging official complaints. Walker and Hill are no longer employees of the sheriff’s office, but Cole was reinstated after more than a year appealing a decision to dishonorably discharge her from the sheriff’s office.

Spokespeople for the sheriff’s office and Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to KERA emails requesting comment.

Actions by leaders in the sheriff’s office, including Sheriff Bill Waybourn, constituted retaliation and attempts to cover up crimes committed by deputies and leadership in the sheriff’s office, the former deputies said.

At the news conference Wednesday, Hill and Walker said their attempts to sound alarms within the sheriff’s office were ignored and met with negative consequences.

Hill said he raised concerns about sheriff’s deputies working closely with bond agents, commonly called bounty hunters, looking for people who had skipped bond. His supervisor used deputies under his command to assist, including in situations where those bounty hunters threatened people with arrest if they weren’t given the information they demanded.

Hill said he tried to talk with his supervisor about concerns regarding cooperation with bounty hunters but the...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi1wFBVV95cUxQRDJtMGtDaFNnM3I2dUFUVU5I...