A woman who claimed she was assaulted by Harker Heights police was charged with perjury on Monday.
In January, Leah Dure was arrested for public intoxication. During the arrest, she claimed she was assaulted by the officer but police said she was actually assaulted by her boyfriend's wife.
The arrest affidavit said during the booking process the woman was not cooperating and was grabbing the office and his body camera. She was put in a holding cell until she was willing to cooperate.
Dure was originally represented by Pennsylvania-based lawyer Lee Merritt, but Merritt said he would no longer pursue the case once body camera video of her arrest was released.
Merritt said Dure reached out to him after the incident and shared pictures of her injuries, as well as her account of what happened. When he dropped the casehe said the absence of circumstantial evidence that a violent attack occurred coupled with significant evidence that his client suffered serious injury to her face prior to the arrest makes further pursuit of the police brutality claim untenable.
On Feb. 23, a warrant was issued for her arrest by Bell County Justice of the Peace Bill Cooke for perjury due to the statements she made.
On March 5, Dure surrendered herself to the Garland Police Department and was released on $5,000 bond.
The case is now being handled by the Bell County Attorney's Office.
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