| UNFAIR PARK | Mistaken Identity Last month, Dallas po- lice detained a mother and son in their home after they mistook them for burglars. BY SIMONE CARTER L ast month, Sha-Galia Felder and her son Alexander were eating dinner and watching Netflix dur- ing a quiet weekend night at home. But around 9:45 p.m., they heard a loud banging and saw flashlights outside the front door. When Alexander jumped up to investi- gate, he saw two Dallas police officers hold- ing up their guns, according to FOX 4 News. One was already standing inside the house. The officers had let themselves in through an unlocked, glass storm door, be- hind which the front door stood ajar. Law enforcement assumed the Felders had bro- ken into the Pleasant Grove home after a neighbor called 911 to report what they thought was a burglary. But to Alexander, the way that police handled the case could have quickly spiraled out of control. “I want some change. Miscommunica- tion could have led to somebody being hurt, seriously hurt or killed,” he said, according to that outlet. “I appreciate them respond- ing, wholeheartedly, but I don’t appreciate how they assessed the situation. How they handled it was very poor.” On Saturday, Oct. 16, police responded to a 911 call from someone who thought that the Dallas home on Menefee Drive was be- ing robbed, according to FOX 4. The caller later explained to Alexander that when they’d driven to dinner that night, they saw the Felders’ front door open. When they drove back home and the door was still open, they called the police to report a sus- pected burglary. After law enforcement arrived, Alexan- der held up his hands and asked why they were there, complying with officers’ com- mands. His mother said she asked police for permission before getting up. Standing outside on the front porch, Al- exander spoke with Dallas officers while a neighbor filmed on their phone. The neigh- bor also tried explaining to police that the Felders lived at the home, according to FOX. When Sha-Galia eventually stepped out- 44 side, she peppered police with questions about why they were there and why they had their guns drawn. Officers told her that they thought something was wrong because of the way Alexander had run toward the front door. What was wrong, Sha-Galia countered, was that police had startled them with their loud banging. “Whatever happened to knocking on the door? ‘Sir, ma’am, we got a phone call and we just want to stop and check to make sure everything is OK,’” she said. “But that’s not what happened.” Sha-Galia wants an apology from Dallas police but hasn’t received one, according to the article. The incident prompted her to file an internal affairs complaint with the de- partment. A DPD spokesperson told the Observer that the department’s Internal Affairs Divi- sion has been communicating with Sha-Ga- lia, who has also been advised to submit a complaint. The spokesperson declined to provide specific details about the incident until the division has reviewed the complaint. Offi- cials will also decide whether to launch an administrative investigation. ▼ HEALTHCARE BONE TO PICK I A LAWSUIT CLAIMS A FRISCO DENTIST LEFT A DRILL BIT IN A PATIENT’S JAW FOR MONTHS. BY JACOB VAUGHN n January last year, Indeera Musa went under for surgery at Stonebriar Facial and Oral Surgery in Frisco, hoping to have two dental implants replaced. At first, the surgery seemed to be a suc- cess. But over the course of the next few days, Musa would report severe pain and swelling to her dentist, Kirk E. Scott, who performed the procedure. It wasn’t until months later that she learned Scott had accidentally left a piece of a drill bit lodged in her jaw. Now, she’s suing. By email, Musa said before all this she ex- pected the surgery to be a routine process. courtesy Button law firm An X-ray showing an embedded bit “Naturally, needing to have surgery is not fun and can be a little scary. However, until now, I had no reason to be worried or fear- ful,” Musa said. The surgery required Scott to use a drill bit called a trephine bur to remove the two faulty implants. Usually, the stainless steel trephine bur is sunk over the failed implant and drilled into the jawbone. This creates a hole that allows the implant to be removed. Material is then grafted over the hole to prevent bone loss and preserve the area for future procedures. When Musa reached out to the dentist’s office about the pain, they instructed her to continue taking pain medicine until her fol- low-up appointment in February. At that ap- pointment, Musa told Scott that she was still experiencing deep pain in her lower left jaw. Scott scheduled her for another appoint- ment three months later. When Musa returned in June, Scott did an X-ray on her jaw to see if it was ready for the new implants. The X-rays showed a dense metallic object in Musa’s jaw. Scott re- vealed that it was a broken piece of a drill bit he used during the surgery. He told Musa not to worry and likened “this conduct to leaving metal bullet fragments in a patient’s body,” according to the lawsuit. But getting the drill bit would take an “in- vasive and complex” surgery that compro- mised the structural integrity of Musa’s jaw forever, the lawsuit says. “It is unacceptable and reckless for any dentist or doctor to leave remnants of surgi- cal equipment inside of a patient following a surgery,” Russell Button, Musa’s attorney, said in a press release. “Ms. Musa was forced to live in excruciating pain for five months because Dr. Scott and Stonebriar Facial and Oral Surgery failed to follow safety protocols that were created to prevent careless mis- takes like this.” Scott’s attorney, Vernon Krueger, didn’t respond for comment, but in a court filing he said his client denies the allegations in the lawsuit. “It has really impacted me,” Musa said. “I trusted Dr. Scott, and now I’m terrified of any medical care I may need in the future. You are supposed to believe that your doctor will do everything they can to make you bet- ter. I wouldn’t want anyone else to have to go through this.” ▼ CRIME JILTED JUSTICE D KYLE VESS’ FAMILY AND LAWYER WANT THE DALLAS FIRE-RESCUE PARAMEDIC WHO BEAT HIM BEHIND BARS. BY JACOB VAUGHN ays after the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office dismissed charges against Kyle Vess, a mentally ill man who was kicked repeatedly by a paramedic in August 2019, Vess’ lawyers and family have called for the paramedic’s arrest. Police body cameras and a surveillance camera from a nearby business released re- cently show Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedic Brad Cox kicking Vess several times as he lay on the ground. At a press conference last Wednesday af- ternoon, Vess’ criminal defense attorney George Milner III said Cox, who is a trained mixed martial arts fighter, should be ar- rested and charged for injury to a disabled person over the 2019 incident. “He clearly committed a felony,” Milner told reporters. “We’ve got one bad apple, and it needs to be plucked.” Kyle Vess, who spoke to the press for the first time, said he was “lucky to be alive.” LaNae Vess said watching the video of her son getting her kicked made her “sick to her stomach.” Vess’ sister, Shelbi Madden, said this “could happen to anyone’s child,” warning that “this will keep happening” unless Cox is fired or arrested. Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot has said the statute of limitations is up for charges he would pursue against Cox. These include assault and official oppres- sion, which have a two-year statute of limi- tations. However, a charge for injury to a disabled person has a five-year statute of limitations and could still be used to prose- cute Cox, Milner maintains. Asked if it would consider the arrest, the Dallas Police Department didn’t respond. DFR put Cox on paid administrative leave after body camera footage from the ar- rest was released. On Saturday, The Dallas Morning News reported that Cox had been fired by the department. DFR has declined to comment on the case generally because of pending litigation. Vess’ family is still tied up in a lawsuit against Cox over the incident that left Kyle with a broken orbital socket and sinus and cracks in his teeth. 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