NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – A Comal County man filed a lawsuit against the City of New Braunfels and three New Braunfels Police Department officers after he claimed they violated his civil rights and unlawfully arrested him during a traffic stop in 2023.
The plaintiff, Robert Nagel, filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas on Tuesday.
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Nagel said he experienced retaliation when he exercised his right to remain silent; he was falsely prosecuted and falsely imprisoned; and his Fourth and Fifth Amendment Rights were violated.
He is seeking damages of $500,000, an admission that the responding officers violated his rights, injunctive relief to prevent future similar conduct, and coverage for his attorney fees and court costs.
KSAT reached out to New Braunfels city officials for a comment on the lawsuit. A spokesperson said they don’t comment on pending litigation.
However, they added they had not been notified about a lawsuit filed against them.
Background
The incident stemmed from a traffic stop initiated by New Braunfels police on March 12, 2023, while Nagel was driving southbound on Interstate 35.
Nagel claimed when he was initially pulled over and an NBPD officer approached his car, the lawsuit states.
The officer, later identified as defendant “Officer Palacios” attempted to open his car door without a warrant, which Nagel said caused fear for his safety, the lawsuit states.
After that interaction, Nagel rolled his window down to ask Palacios if he would like him to step out of his vehicle, and Palacios responded, “Yes,” the lawsuit states. Palacios stated he wanted to speak to him outside.
Nagel learned he was pulled over because his license plate didn’t populate a return in Palacios’ computer system. However, this “confused him” since, according to the lawsuit, his vehicle was registered, insured and had a current inspection.
Palacios then questioned Nagel if he knew why his vehicle was not appearing in his system. Nagel said he was unsure, adding that he owned the car since 2005.
In an attempt to prove car ownership, the lawsuit claimed Nagel tried to retrieve his inspection sticker inside.
However, Palacios told him to remain in front of his police unit, the lawsuit stated.
“So when I run your plate, I get an insurance return, which isn’t typical if a license plate is no good or if it’s phony,” Palacios told Nagel, according to the lawsuit. “But that plate has no return in the state databases whatsoever.”
Officer ‘copped an attitude,’ escalating tension during Nagel’s traffic stop
Following the exchange, the lawsuit states the incident intensified when Nagel said Palacios “copped an attitude” with him, which eventually led to him invoking his right to remain silent.
According to the lawsuit, Palacios asked Nagel when his inspection sticker was due, and once again, he replied that he was unsure.
Palacios questioned Nagel in an “accusatory and confrontational manner” about his uncertainty, the lawsuit stated.
“Okay, you know when your own inspection sticker is due? You’ve owned it since 2005, but you don’t know when it’s due?” Palacios told Nagel.
After that comment, the lawsuit claimed Nagel told Palacios that he was exercising his right to remain silent since he had already cooperated and provided his identification.
Palacios continued to ask Nagel questions, including if he had “illegal drugs, guns, or other items in the vehicle.”
Palacios inquired whether a canine unit would detect anything, which the lawsuit suggested was an attempt to extend the duration of the traffic stop.
According to the lawsuit, a second officer identified as defendant “Officer Fraga” arrived and started questioning Nagel after learning about the situation from Palacios.
Fraga asked similar questions regarding his car ownership. Nagel continued to respond with, “I don’t know,” before explaining he was trying to prove his case by obtaining his information from inside, but Palacios prevented him, the lawsuit states.
Fraga continued to ask Nagel questions despite knowing he wanted to remain silent, according to the document. The lawsuit claimed that at some point, Fraga “copped an attitude” with Nagel when he told her any information she needed was with Palacios.
“Defendant Fraga then copped an attitude by told Mr. Nagel that she ‘just got here,’” the lawsuit read. Nagel responded, “I understand.”
“Defendant Fraga sarcastically retorted that, ‘I don’t think that you do,’ further escalating the tension on the side of the road rather than work on a solution,” the lawsuit states.
Officer allegedly told Nagel, “You shouldn’t have started with that ‘I want to remain silent’ s—‘”
Thirty minutes into the traffic stop, the third defendant, identified as “Sergeant Penniman,” arrived on the scene as Palacios continued to question Nagel about any illegal substances in his car, the lawsuit read.
Nagel provided the same information about his car to Penniman, but Penniman told him that he was “operating the vehicle illegally” without asking for any paperwork, the document states.
Penniman told Nagel that “he (Palacios) could arrest him right now if he wanted to,” which Nagel said felt like a threat, the lawsuit states.
Following his arrest, the lawsuit blamed Penniman for not properly training his officer and preventing the “unlawful arrest.”
“Defendant Penniman, as the supervisor on the scene, had the ability and opportunity to fully understand, educate, and train Defendant Palacios on how to properly ascertain registration to ensure that Mr. Nagel wasn’t wrongfully arrested, but refused to do any due diligence and simply acquiesced to anything Defendant Palacios wanted to do,” the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit further criticized Penniman, saying he showed a lack of leadership and supervision over Palacios during the traffic stop.
Penniman allegedly told Nagel at some point, “It’s his traffic stop, and I don’t dictate to him how he’s going to conduct it. I don’t tell him whether he’s going to arrest somebody or not arrest somebody.”
Palacios later arrested Nagel and charged him with displaying a fictitious motor vehicle registration and unlawful carry of a firearm.
During the arrest, the lawsuit stated Palacios told Nagel, “You shouldn’t have started with that ‘I want to remain silent’ s—.”
Nagel spent 12 hours in jail and got his charges dropped two years later on March 11.
Although the charges were dismissed, Nagel is pursuing damages.
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