INDIAN LAKE -- A 76 year old woman's bruise is at the center of a Cameron County Sheriff's Department investigation in the small town of Indian Lake.
“The bruise was before the handcuffs...
He grabbed my arm... I had already taken 4 or 5 steps away from the podium going this way...
When he reached out for my arm and pulled me that way," explained Eurline Atkins when asked how she received the bruise.
Atkins said the town's Police Chief John Chambers is responsible for her injury.
But the chief said her accusation is an attempt to smear his name and good standing in town.
"It's definitely a case of retaliation," said Chambers.
The chief said Atkins was out of order when she spoke over her three minutes during public comments at a town hall meeting last week.
Atkins claimed the chief roughed her up when she was briefly detained.
The chief believes he's being falsely accused.
Indian Lake Mayor Barbara Collum, who presided over the meeting, is now speaking out in defense of the chief.
"He put the handcuffs on her... I don't think that was an assault... She was resisting him... I did see hear him say, ‘Eurline... Stop resisting me... You're going to hurt yourself.’"
Surveillance video from the encounter that night raises questions about Atkins claim.
A new audio recording exclusively given to Action 4 News raises even more questions.
Mayor: Thank you for your comments, Eurline.
Eurline: Our concern… (inaudible)
Mayor: *Hits Gavel*
Eurline: (inaudible)
Mayor: *Hits Gavel*
At one point, Atkins appears to antagonize Chief Chambers as he puts in when she said this, “why don't you arrest me.”
Eurline claims she was fearful of the chief and did not inflame the situation.
The sheriff’s department will likely subpoena the tape as evidence in the case.
Eurline: I want my purse… I want my purse!
Chief: You want to have a seat or do you want to go to jail? You want to have a seat or do you want to go to jail?
Mayor: The meeting will now come to order…
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