Off-duty deputy pulls gun on group in movie theater

Larry Seward | KHOU-TV, Houston

Show Caption Hide Caption Off-duty officer pulls gun on young adults in theater An off-duty deputy pulled his gun in a movie theater after being assaulted by a group of teens and 20-somethings.

SUGAR LAND, Texas — An off-duty deputy pulled his gun in a theater after being assaulted by a group of young people, according to police.

Police said the Harris County Precinct 6 Deputy Constable was watching a movie at the AMC 24 at First Colony Mall on Monday with his wife. Three females behind the couple put their feet on the wife's chair.

Twice she asked the females to stop. They refused, investigators say.

Moments later, two males with the trio began putting their feet on the deputy constable's seat. They even kicked the deputy in the head, police said.

So, the deputy constable stood and verbally confronted the group. He was pushed and challenged to fight, according to investigators.

At that point, the deputy constable identified himself as an off-duty peace officer and pulled his gun. Witnesses told police the deputy constable kept the weapon at his side.

"I would assume he did the right thing," Anthony Bailey, a moviegoer, said of the deputy constable. "At least he didn't shoot anybody."

"The kids should have never put their feet on the back of the chair," said Monae Elliott, who was also in the theater, said.

"They should never have kicked anybody in the head and provoked a fight. So, it kind of goes both ways. Both of them are at fault. One of them had the authority and they should have walked away because it was out of order and should just not have been done."

No one went to jail. Investigators say the victim, the deputy constable, declined to press assault charges.

Theater management banned the group of teens and twenty-somethings accused of provoking the disturbance.