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Police chief makes apology to Hernandez
McKinney Police Chief Doug Kowalski shakes hands with Christi Dawn Hernandez, 35, of Princeton, on Tuesday after a press conference in front of the McKinney Public Safety Building. This photo and more are available through MyCapture at www.scntx.com. Photo: Stefanie White/McKinney Courier-Gazette
BY DANNY GALLAGHER, McKinney Courier-Gazette
McKinney Police Chief Doug Kowalski issued a public apology Tuesday to Christi Dawn Hernandez, 35, of Princeton.
“I want you to know that we mean this from the bottom of our hearts. The McKinney Police Department does not accomplish its mission by making mistakes,” Kowalski said. “The police department does not accomplish its mission by putting the wrong person in jail. We made a mistake that day. This young lady has suffered and we’ve done everything we can from that point forward to make it right … We apologize to her and I apologize to her, also.”
A Collin County grand jury originally indicted Hernandez on Sept. 5, 2006, on a state jail felony charge of delivery of a controlled substance and sheriff’s deputies arrested her Jan. 25 at Lovejoy High School, where she works as an assistant cafeteria manager.
The McKinney City Council approved a settlement for Hernandez on May 21 that includes $25,000 and a public apology.
Hernandez said she’s grateful for the support of her friends and family and her attorney John Charles Hardin, of McKinney, and for the apology issued by the MPD.
“I just want to tell my family and my friends thank you for sticking behind me and helping me out,” she said. “I want to give a big thank you to my attorney, Mr. Hardin. Without him, I’m not sure this would have been happening. I also want to thank the McKinney Police Department for doing this for me and helping me put some closure on this incident for me, and I hope this never happens to anyone else.”
According to McKinney police records, Christy Marie Hernandez, 32, of Anna, attempted to purchase cocaine from an undercover McKinney police officer on Apr. 29, 2006.
Kowalski said the detective handling the case obtained a name from the woman during the drug deal then attempted to match a photograph of the woman taken by the Collin County Detention Center that turned out to be Christi Hernandez from an issuance of a bad check case filed against her back in 2001. The detective did not know the spelling of the woman’s name at the time and incorrectly matched Christi Hernandez’s identity to the case. A warrant was issued and she was later indicted and arrested.
Kowalski also said the license plate obtained from the scene was registered to an unconnected Greenville couple at the time and Christy Hernandez didn’t update her registration until after the Collin County District Attorney’s Office “took action” on the case.
“That was a series of events that led to what I call a great misfortune for this young lady right here,” Kowalski said. “Obviously, during the course of that investigation, she was arrested. Several terrible things resulted from that for her. She was deprived from her liberty. She was, for the want of a better term, she lost her job for a period of time. Additionally, she suffered damage to her reputation. The police department does not go out and try and put the wrong people in jail. That’s not what we’re about. The McKinney Police Department tries to do what’s right, do the best we can and treat other people the way you want to be treated and although there were probably a number of defenses the city could have raised under good faith, the city, the city manager (Larry Robinson) and the city council wanted to do the right thing and that was make this young lady whole again.”
Since then, the correct Christy Hernandez has been charged and arrested in connection with the drug deal. Anna police officers arrested Christy Hernandez on the McKinney PD’s warrant on May 7, Anna police Lt. Howard Day said.
She faces a state jail felony charge of a delivery of a controlled substance, according to Collin County Detention Center records.
Kowalski also said the department has changed its identification procedures to prevent another false arrest. Detectives will have to pick the suspect out of a photo lineup organized by another detective before they file a warrant.
Hardin also said they will file a motion to have Christi Hernandez’s record expunged.
Kowalski said he could not discuss any possible disciplinary actions that might have been taken against the detective since it is a personnel matter.
“While he did make a mistake on the one hand, the things he did afterwards go to the level of this officer’s integrity,” Kowalski said. “He did admit that he made a mistake. He apologized for making a mistake. He went about trying to rectify his mistake to the best of his ability with the district attorney and the charges were dropped immediately. Additionally, he didn’t try to cover up his mistake. He came back to the department and reported it.”
Hernandez said she’s glad she can finally put this behind her.
“I’m glad. I’m glad that’s it’s all over,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been nervous. I’m going to be glad to go back to my house and just live a normal life, I hope.”
Contact Danny Gallagher at dgallagher@acnpapers.com. To post comments online, access this story at www.scntx.com.
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