Story Archive

Danger Has a Price

After days of seeing her husband’s erratic behavior, Marlene Yazar called 911. “My husband is disconnected from reality,” she told the dispatcher. “He’s just talking crazy things, like the world is going to end. And he’s been like this for two or three days now.” Paramedics arrived, but Kemal Yazar, 43, was so violent they retreated and requested a “priority one” response from police for an “extremely violent patient.” Harris County (Texas) Deputy Brady Pullen and another officer arrived, and in the struggle that followed Pullen was injured and Yazar was killed. Now, Pullen is suing, accusing the family of “negligence and recklessness” because they didn’t fully warn him of the “violent threat” Kemal posed. Pullen’s attorney, Mark Long, stood up for the lawsuit. “If this case brings an awareness that people need to be completely, utterly honest with 911, and if people become aware that police officers have rights just like everybody else, I’m happy,” he said. “Whatever else people think about me, I could care less.” (MS/Houston Chronicle) ...And that’s exactly what people think about you.