Grand jury indicts 6 former Houston narcotics officers

HOUSTON – A grand jury indicted six former Houston Police Department narcotics officers Thursday on a total of 17 charges, Harris County prosecutors.

The indictments come after prosecutors charged the six officers with crimes they said were uncovered during an investigation of HPD’s narcotics division prompted by the deadly Harding Street police raid that killed two residents and injured five officers in January 2019.

Gerald Goines and Steven Bryant, the two ex-officers who were the first to be charged after the raid, were indicted on charges including tampering with a government record and aggregate theft by a public servant. Goines also faces a murder charge.

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Former HPD sergeants Clemente Reyna and Thomas Wood and former Officer Hodie Armstrong have also been indicted on charges of tampering with a government record. Armstrong also faces a charge of aggregate theft of a public servant.

Former HPD Lt. Robert Gonzales has been indicted on a charge of misapplication of fiduciary property.

“These indictments reinforce our decision to prosecute the graft, greed and corruption in this troubled Houston Police division,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a written statement. “We look forward to presenting all of the evidence in a courtroom to a jury and the people of Harris County.”

Goines is accused of lying on the affidavit used to secure the warrant that led to the deadly raid.

Prosecutors have initiated a review of more than 14,000 cases involving HPD’s narcotics division.