Tolan Lawyer: City of Bellaire Tried to Silence Our Case

Tolan lawyer: City of Bellaire tried to silence our case
By Taylor Timmins | KHOU.com

Lawyers for Robbie Tolan, the man who was shot by Bellaire police in front of his home, struck back at the department and the city in a press conference Wednesday, saying they refused to let their case die.

Attorney David Berg said the City of Bellaire sent the Tolans' legal team what he described as a threatening letter, saying they shouldn’t be talking publicly about the case.

Berg waved the letter in the air as he said his team and the Tolans won’t be silenced.

Berg said he had a message specifically for Bellaire Mayor Cindy Seigel.

“If you thought you were going to shut us up, it’s not going to happen. Not on our watch,” Berg said.

Tolan, a former minor league baseball player, was shot by police on New Year’s Eve. He said his injuries have left him unable to run or walk without pain, and he has two broken ribs and a hematoma on his liver.

The shooting sparked an immediate outcry among activists and friends of the family, who believe the incident was racially motivated.

“It’s pathetic and it’s sad for them to think they could shut us up after they did what they did to me,” Tolan said. “I think it’s an act of desperation.”

Bellaire police said they pulled Tolan over on the night of the shooting because they thought he was in a stolen car.

Tolan said he doesn’t buy it.

“The City of Bellaire is not huge. And for them to have their own police department, they know who their residents are,” he said.

“We weren’t passing through. We’ve lived there for 15 years, so they know. They know who I am, “ Tolan said.

Initially, leaders of the upscale community declined to address the mounting allegations of racial profiling.

On Feb. 3, Mayor Seigel broke her silence on the matter in a state of the city address.

“We can’t ignore these allegations and even if they turn out that they are just perception, we do believe that we need to address it and take steps that are proactive,” Seigel said.

Tolan’s attorneys attended the speech and later said they were unsatisfied with the mayor’s response.

“I don’t ever want to see this happen again. To anyone. It happens all too often, and it needs to stop,” Tolan said.

In an HBO interview with Bryant Gumbel that aired Tuesday night, Tolan said the officers opened fire when he objected to the way they treated his mother.

He said he had just gotten out of his car in his driveway when he was confronted by police. His parents came outside when they heard the commotion.

“I was on the ground. I raised up and I turned around. I told them to get their hands of my mama. Then I was shot,” said Tolan.

Though Tolan said he’s thought about the fact that things might have turned out differently if he’d stayed on the ground, he felt he did what he had to do.

“With all due respect, let’s see your mom slammed up against the garage door,” Tolan said. “Right or wrong, I was acting on instinct. And anyone who disagrees with me, I would love to hear how that constitutes being shot.”

Fighting back tears, Tolan said he couldn’t imagine the impact the shooting had on his parents.

Tolan’s mother said she wants all of the officers involved to go to jail.

“It is my prayer that God use Robbie, and use this case, to make real changes so that officers will not use the badge and the gun to shoot people’s children and kill people’s children for no reason,” she said.

Tolan said he had no way of knowing what the officers were thinking that night, but he’s certain his race played a factor.

“I don’t know if jealousy had anything to do with it. I don’t know if it was just that I was black and not driving an old beat-up car or the fact that I was black and lived in Bellaire,” Tolan said.

“I hate to play the race card, but I mean, that’s what it is,” he said.