Cleburne Officer Stuns Hit-and-Run Suspect Moments Into Traffic Stop

Man says he plans to file formal complaint against motorcycle officer

A driver is calling for his felony charges to be dropped after a Cleburne police officer hit him with a stun gun within moments of pulling him over on a traffic stop last month.

Donny Hinshaw, 30, said plans to file a formal complaint against the motorcycle officer over the May 23 incident.

Video of the traffic stop from a camera mounted on the officer's lapel shows him pulling Hinshaw over. Approximately 10 seconds pass between his initial verbal command of "hands on the truck" and his use of the stun gun.

Hinshaw told NBC 5 that at the time he felt "fear, anxiety [and] no situational awareness of what's going on," saying he was "just scared."

He faces hit-and-run and evading arrest charges, both felonies.

"I would like to see all charges dismissed," Hinshaw said. "I've never been arrested before in my life. I would like to see both felony charges I'm being faced dropped, dismissed, gone, and that the officer get reprimanded for it."

Video of the traffic stop was posted on YouTube. (Warning: Video contains explicit language.)

Hinshaw was pulled over in connection with a hit-and-run crash in the 500 block of Smith Street that is still under investigation.

But what is clear is that another pickup truck passed Hinshaw, and the two vehicles hit each other.

Neither driver stopped at the scene.

Hinshaw said he was concerned about his safety following the crash because the other driver yelled obscenities at him when he passed him. He said he did not immediately call police after the accident because his cellphone had died.

But the other driver called police shortly after the crash. Lapel video on another Cleburne officer shows the driver describing the crash.

A Cleburne police officer turned on his lights and tried to pull Hinshaw over about 15 minutes after the accident, Detective Kelly Summey said. Police said that investigators believe Hinshaw made a trip to the grocery store before the traffic stop.

Summey said that Hinshaw ignored the officer and continued driving.

"The driver of the vehicle was shaking his head back and forth and refused to pull to the side of the roadway," Summey said in a statement. "After turning on two separate streets, the vehicle stopped in the 800 block of West Smith, and the driver was apprehended."

Hinshaw said he did not immediately stop once he saw the flashing lights and continued toward his home because he did not see a safe place to pull over.

After he was stunned and forced to the ground, Hinshaw can be heard in the police video responding to the charges against him by saying, "Hit-and-run? He hit me."

"It is the duty of every driver in the state of Texas involved in an accident causing damage to a vehicle or property to stop and provide information, including name, address, registration and insurance," Summey said. "It is an offense for a person to intentionally flee from a peace officer."

Cleburne police have not commented publicly about the officer's use of the stun gun or how swiftly he decided to use it.

"I believe the officer should have given me a chance to explain my side of the story instead of going straight to brute force to try and detain me," Hinshaw said.

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