Ex-Cottonwood Shores chief surrenders peace officer license
FROM STAFF REPORTS
COTTONWOOD SHORES — After two incidents that required other police agencies to investigate his behavior, former Cottonwood Shores police chief Thomas Williams gave up his peace officer license in an agreement with local prosecutors.
Earlier in April, Williams resigned as the Cottonwood Shores chief after a reported altercation with a woman at a Horseshoe Bay hotel. Horseshoe Bay police responded to an incident March 22 at a hotel after security reported two people — one of them Williams — had been involved in two alleged disturbances.
Police spoke with a 51-year-old woman and Williams. Officers noticed redness on the woman’s wrists and a bruised hand, according to investigators. The woman, however, didn’t want to press charges, and Williams left the hotel on his own.
After the incident, Cottonwood Shores officials placed Williams on leave pending the investigation. But on April 16, the city council accepted Williams’ resignation.
This was the second incident involving the former police chief. In January, Granite Shoals police investigated a report that Williams had allegedly sent unwanted text messages to an individual who had advised the former chief not to contact him or her.
He was charged with a Class B misdemeanor of harassment.
On April 21, Williams agreed to give up his peace officer license in lieu of being prosecuted for the harassment charge.
Horseshoe Bay police turned over the information from the alleged March altercation to the 33rd/424th District Attorney’s Office. After District Attorney Sonny McAfee reviewed the case, he determined the chief’s behavior didn’t warrant a felony charge and turned it over to Llano County Attorney Rebecca Lange, who conducted a further investigation.
During the office’s investigation, the woman allegedly involved in the incident continued to refuse to press charges.
In the Granite Shoals incident, Burnet County Attorney Eddie Arredondo handled the prosecution and a further investigation. As a result of that investigation, Williams surrendered his peace officer license as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.
Under this plan, Williams cannot take a peace officer position in Texas, and, as part of a further agreement with Arredondo, Williams cannot seek a job as a law enforcement officer in any other state as well.
After reviewing the Horseshoe Bay incident, consulting with Horseshoe Bay police and the alleged victim, Lange decided the agreement reached with Burnet County for Williams to surrender his peace officer license would suffice as well for Llano County.
Williams became the Cottonwood Shores police chief in November 2014. He had both municipal and federal law enforcement experience before taking the position.
editor@thepicayune.com