After the questionable police conduct during the incident at Walter’s, I noticed this ABC-13 news blurb from last week, but have seen no follow-up news report since the incident:

A Sugar Land woman says police went too far when they burst into her home and arrested her boyfriend and son on drug charges. The raid left her dog dead and caused thousands of dollars in damage.
“It was bang, bang, bang, then there was a boom as they broke the door in, threw the fire grenade, and then shot the dog,” said homeowner Margot Allen. “This all happened in anywhere from five to fifteen seconds.”
That’s how Allen’s son and boyfriend describe what happened that day. Sugar Land police acted on a tip. They say they found traces of marijuana and cocaine in her trash after a month-long investigation.
“There’s no crack done in my house,” she said. “There’s occasional marijuana in my house. I don’t do it because I don’t happen to like it.”
Based on the evidence in the trash, a regional SWAT team arrived at the home. Police say they knocked, waited 30 seconds, and then broke in with guns and a concussion grenade. The house suffered $5,000 damage and one officer shot and killed Margot’s golden lab, Shadow, when police say it charged toward one of the officers. What did officers find inside?
“A joint half the size of my pinky fingernail and then one about this big,” she said, showing a length on her finger. “And not anywhere near this big around.”

Let’s see here. A SWAT team is deployed to a citizen’s house because “traces of marijuana and cocaine” were found in the trash after a month-long investigation? Then, the citizen’s house is heavily damaged and the citizen’s dog is killed in the process of arresting a couple of fellows who enjoy smoking a joint in their home? Although a couple of potheads do not generally evoke a great deal of sympathy, is this what the citizens of Sugar Land truly want from a new police growth industry?

Suffice it to say that the video below of the incident first noted here will not be linked to from the Houston Chamber of Commerce website.
What on earth was Officer Rodriguez thinking? The Chronicle has a follow-up article here, focusing on the effect that publicity over the incident may have on the live-music club scene in Houston. Houstoned has more, too.

Now, let me get this straight.
Someone calls police on Friday night and complains about the noise level of the music at a local club that is well-known for featuring live bands. The club’s crowd is comprised mostly of college kids.
An officer responds and, when the band doesn’t reduce its noise level to the officer’s satisfaction, the officer climbs onstage, shines a flashlight in the lead singer’s face and yells “Stop!”
What happened next is subject to conflicting accounts. However, it appears to be undisputed that the lead singer said something and then the officer grabbed him by the neck and forced him to the ground. A melee involving the officer and several members of the audience broke out, prompting the officer to Taser the lead singer, a 14-year-old audience member and a University of Houston sociology student doing a “field paper on the music scene.” At least four people were arrested, the bass player’s guitar got smashed and six HPD squad cars ended up at the scene.
The lead singer, who was not one of those arrested, commented afterward to a Houston Chronicle reporter that the officer was “out of control.” “He was extremely violent form the start,” said the lead singer. “It was frightening.”
On the other hand, a police spokesman told the Chronicle that the officer’s approach “was commendable” and that it was “fortunate that he used a Taser instead of a weapon.”
“Fortunate that he used a Taser instead of a weapon?” To tone down the music level at a club that is in the business of playing loud music?
Irresponsible use of force by local police is an offshoot of the growing problem that Cato Insitute fellow Radley Balko has chronicled with regard to overuse of local police SWAT units. I guess we’re fortunate that HPD didn’t send in its SWAT team to deal with this situation, but doesn’t HPD have better things to be doing on a Friday night than Tasering a bunch of college kids who enjoy listening to loud music at a club?