Zach Thomas (Photo by Chris J. Nelson)
Maritza Thomas
Maritza Thomas, pictured left, is wife of Zachary Michael Thomas, a former quarter back NFL Dallas Cowboys. Maritza Thomas, a Hispanic, and Zach Thomas were married in July, 2006.
A lot of internet surfers are now googling Maritza Thomas. So why? Random Citations learned that Maritza was mistreated back in July, 2008 by Dallas police officer Robert Powell, it revealed now.
Officer Robert Powell, 25, recently hit the news headlines for a much-criticized move that he detained Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats in a hospital parking lot and caused the latter not able to have a final sight of his dying mother-in-law.
Ryan Moats stopping by Robert Powell Video
Robert PowellNow it turned out Powell was the officer who may have harassed Maritza Thomas in 2008. Excerpts from Dallas Morning News well described what officer Powell had mistreated his subject:
On July 27, 2008, while her husband was at training camp with the Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif., Maritza Thomas was pulled over by Powell for an illegal U-turn near NorthPark Center.
Maritza Thomas was issued five tickets by Powell, four of which were later dismissed. Thomas was handcuffed, placed in the back of a police cruiser, spent about three hours in the Dallas County Jail and was threatened with the possibility of spending the night behind bars.
[…]
According to Maritza Thomas, a pharmacist with no prior criminal record, Powell would not accept the explanation of where the proper paperwork was before she was taken to jail. Her mother, Teresa Lozano, who was making her first trip to Dallas and speaks little English, was forced to ride with the tow truck driver when the car was impounded. She later posted bail for her daughter's release.
"My mom was begging for him to let her go to the apartment that was five minutes away to get the paperwork," Maritza Thomas said. "He unbuckled his holster, and she got scared."
On the incident, Zach told to the newspaper:
"This in no way compares to what happened to Ryan Moats and his family. But we wanted to tell our story, not knowing how many others have been affected by Officer Powell. We know the vast majority of the Dallas police force are good and professional people, but this guy just seems excessive."
Bob Gorsky, attorney of Powell who was on administrative leave for Moats’ incident, defended his client's actions.
"I do understand that an arrest on multiple traffic charges happens often and is absolutely proper under these circumstances. Often, when there are multiple charges, an arrest made and bond posted, some of the charges from a single event are later dropped."
Source: Zach Thomas: Same Dallas officer mistreated my wife @ Dallas Moring News