Commerce Police Chief Resigns After Miss Black Texas' Controversial Arrest

The police chief for the city of Commerce has resigned after an incident involving the arrest of the 2016 Miss Black Texas US Ambassador last month.Chief Kerry Crews was not at Monday evening's special city council meeting, but announced his resignation in a letter read by the mayor, KDFW-TV (Channel 4) reported. The announcement came in the wake of backlash following the May 20 arrest of Carmen Ponder, a 23-year-old pre-law student at Texas A&M University - Commerce, who was detained at a Wal-Mart following an encounter between Ponder and Commerce ISD school board trustee Michael Beane. Ponder alleged that Beane cut her off on the road, and noted that he was teaching his 14-year-old daughter how to drive. She said he called her a "black [expletive]" after she told him it was illegal for a child that age to be driving.In a statement, Ponder's attorney Lee Merrit alleged that Crews, who was off-duty at the time, approached Ponder in the parking lot and demanded that she apologize to Beane. When she refused, she was detained. Crews said in his letter that he intervened in the conflict at the trustee's request. He said he felt the dispute was "something I could handle. I was wrong."   Continue reading...