Police identify powder recovered in deadly drug raid

Houston Police Officer Union president Joe Gamaldi addresses the media outside of the emergency department at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, Monday, Jan. 28, 2019. Four officers were shot Monday afternoon, two of whom are described as critical but stable, while narcotics officers were attempting to serve a search warrant. less Houston Police Officer Union president Joe Gamaldi addresses the media outside of the emergency department at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, Monday, Jan. 28, 2019. Four officers were ... more Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 62 Caption Close Police identify powder recovered in deadly drug raid 1 / 62 Back to Gallery

Three days after the botched drug raid that left two residents dead and five officers wounded, authorities identified the unknown powder they found at the scene of the bloody bust.

The Thursday news conference revealed that the powder was cocaine, perhaps answering one of the nagging questions raised after the Pecan Park raid targeting a pair of alleged heroin dealers.

"Our No. 1 goal," said police Chief Art Acevedo, "is always to find out the good, the bad, the ugly and to be transparent."

He went on to push back against the union chief's fiery comments on TV, offer more details about the reasons for the raid, and condemn lingering "conspiracy theories."

"There are people who believe in Flat Earth," he said. "I can't control what people think."

It started Jan. 8, he said, when an anonymous caller phoned police to complain that her daughter was "doing drugs" inside the Harding Street home. The woman was standing outside, looking in the windows, she told police, adding a warning that the couple had "a lot of guns."

When officers showed up, they didn't see anything amiss, though they spotted a passerby talking on the phone. When asked, the woman said she hadn't called 911, then turned back to her call and allegedly said, "Hey the police are at the dope house."

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Stymied, police called back the woman who first complained, but she refused to give up any more info, saying she feared for her life. So the officers started an investigation.

A few weeks later, police sent in a confidential informant, who allegedly purchased some black tar heroin inside the home. The next day, undercovers in tactical gear showed up with a warrant.

They burst in the door, and shot the couple's dog, kicking off a gun battle that ended in the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Police said that Tuttle — a Navy veteran — snuck around the back of the house and opened fire on officers, while Nicholas reached for a wounded officer's gun.

Five officers were hurt, including one who blew out his knee. Four others were shot, and are all recovering. Police seized marijuana, some weapons and an initially unidentified powder now deemed to be cocaine.

Afterward, family and friends of the slain couple repeatedly stressed that they weren't drug users or sellers, instead describing them as quiet animal-lovers who kept to the themselves.

But union chief Joe Gamaldi sparked controversy with heated comments in a Monday press conference, where he told anyone "spreading the rhetoric that police officers are the enemy" that "we've got your number."

"We're sick and tired of having targets on our backs," he continued. "We are sick and tired of having dirtbags trying to take our lives when all we're trying to do is protect this community and our families."

Two days later, he doubled down in a Fox & Friends interview, blaming activists and "talking heads" for "harmful narratives" ever since Michael Brown's killing in Ferguson in 2014.

Gamaldi's comments, Acevedo said, were unhelpful and only added to the "brouhaha" around the shoot-out.

"He went a little over the top," Acevedo added. "A lot over the top, if you ask me."

Acevedo repeatedly stressed that he — not Gamaldi — ran the Houston Police Department and that Gamaldi's words had had a "damaging impact." He said some other officers had barely been able to hide their displeasure at the news conference Monday — joking that one officer in particular "shouldn't play poker."

Activist Ashton Woods, who attended Thursday's press conference, demanded an apology and resignation from the outspoken union head, adding that he'd hope Acevedo would go further with his criticism of the firebrand.

"I wish he had said unabashedly that he needs to be looking for a new (police union) president," Woods said. Gamaldi, he said, "should go back to New York."

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to indicate that cocaine, not heroin, was seized at the home.

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