Trooper Who Arrested Sandra Bland Indicted For Lying In Police Report

The charge leveled against Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Brian Encinia is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison and a $4,000 fine, the Houston Chronicle reported.

A Texas grand jury on Wednesday indicted on a perjury charge the state trooper who stopped and arrested Sandra Bland, the young black woman whose jail death added to the national outcry over police treatment of minorities. Bland was found hanging in her jail cell just days after her arrest.

Dashboard camera footage shows Encinia and Bland in a heated argument before the two struggled as she was arrested.

In this undated photo provided by the Bland family, Sandra Bland poses for a photo. A verbal and physical altercation ensued between Bland and Encinia.

A team of special prosecutors has been presenting evidence before the same Waller County jurors who last month declined to indict anyone in Bland’s death.

Local officials have said she was not mistreated in jail. Encinia, a Texas trooper who arrested Bland after a confrontation that began with a traffic stop, had been cautioned about “unprofessional conduct” in a 2014 incident while he was still a probationary trooper. Dashcam video from Encinia’s patrol vehicle shows that the traffic stop quickly became confrontational.

“I’m going to yank you out of here”, Encinia said in the video. They have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court, which is set for trial early next year. Authorities say that she hung herself – but her family and supporters have strongly refuted the claims, insisting she was in an optimistic state of mind at the time of her arrest and looking forward to a new job.