Fired Balch Springs officer accused of pulling gun on woman after accident
DALLAS – The fired Balch Springs police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of a teen faces more legal trouble.
A grand jury will look into whether Roy Oliver will be charged with a separate incident when he was off duty involving his gun. The incident happened two weeks before Jordan Edwards’ shooting death.
Defense Attorney Jim Lane confirmed that a Dallas County grand jury will hear evidence Wednesday on an incident involving Oliver not related to Jordan’s shooting death. It is a case where he allegedly pulled a gun during a minor traffic accident when he was off duty. Lane would not comment further except to say that Oliver will not be appearing before that grand jury.
The former officer was arrested and charged with murder May 5. He posted bond and was released while the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office investigates what happened on April 29 when Oliver fired a rifle into a car full of teenagers and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards.
The incident happened at a Dallas intersection on Easter Sunday, just days before the shooting in Balch Springs. Oliver’s pickup truck was struck from behind by a small sedan after a relatively minor fender bender.”
Monique Arredondo was the driver. Her sister and two children were in the car with her. She admits she was driving without a license. But she told FOX 4 during a May 9 interview that Oliver came at her with his gun drawn.
“He didn’t have it like this. He wasn’t holding it on his holster like this,” she said. “No, he had the gun like that. And I said, ‘When you get the gun out of my face, I’ll give you my information.’”
According to a police report, Oliver told responding Dallas officers he had his gun out in a “low ready” position because he believed Arredondo might be reaching for a gun or attempting to flee.
Pete Schulte, a reserve deputy and defense attorney with no connection with the case, believes the DA’s office is trying to establish a troubling pattern of behavior before the murder case is presented.
“A minor collision and you have your gun and badge on and you pull your gun — that’s extreme,” he said. “And they’re going to pile it on.”
There is a discrepancy in what police say Arredondo told them about the weapon the day of the accident. They say she told them he never pointed the weapon directly at her.
“You don’t have to point it at somebody for it to be a crime. You just have to exhibit it,” Schulte said. “It puts somebody else in fear for their life and it cannot be justified, which means if you pull a gun and there’s no reason to do it that’s aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.”
Arredondo said she has been talking to detectives about what happened between her and Oliver.
The DA’s office refused to confirm or deny that the grand jury will hear the case Wednesday. In fact, they’ll have no comment until an indictment is issued.
