Texas mom facing eviction stays at apartment

The Arlington mother and her children at the center of a controversial arrest July 3 are staying at their apartment, despite an eviction notice that told them to leave by Thursday, their attorney said.

“She will be staying here until she is forcibly removed,” attorney Kim T. Cole said at a news conference outside the Addison Park apartments in Arlington. “She has nowhere to go. She’s not from here. There’s no reason in voluntarily making her and her five children homeless.”

Cole said Latasha Nelson and her children will stay at the apartment until Addison Park management returns with a court order to move forward with the eviction.

Addison Park management has not responded to requests for comment.

The controversy stems from the arrests of Nelson’s teenage sons July 3.

Police had responded to the apartments, where a witness had reported that Nelson’s 14-year-old son burglarized a vehicle. The teen matched the “exact” description the witness gave officer Chad Haning, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Haning handcuffed the 14-year-old boy and put him in a patrol car as Nelson recorded the incident on her cellphone. Haning then arrested Nelson’s 16-year-old son, accusing him of interfering with his investigation.

Haning’s attorney, Randall Moore, said the 16-year-old “chest bumped” Haning while Haning was talking to Nelson, prompting Haning to push the teen to the ground and handcuff him.

Nelson denied that her son had anything to do with the burglary. She said police later pressured her to give up video of the arrest, indicating that they would drop charges against her sons if she did.

She also said Haning refused to tell her where he was taking her sons, as indicated in the video.

The video went public on Facebook last week when it was posted July 12 by the Next Generation Action Network, a civil rights activist group.

Cole said Nelson received an eviction notice from the apartments on July 14, giving her until Thursday to leave.

The notice said: “On July 3, 2017, you, your occupants, or your guests were allegedly involved in a car break in. Two people were taken to jail. Criminal activity on any kind.”

“I don’t think anyone would be in the position to pack up five children and pack up a place you’ve lived at for five years and move somewhere else in six days,” Cole said Thursday.

Nelson said she is trying to make arrangements to move but needs more time.

“[I’m] afraid of the unknown,” she said. “It’s just pretty much not knowing where to go.”