Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst calls 911 to pressure police to release jailed relative

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) reportedly called 911 when a relative was in jail and tried to use his influence to convince officials to release her. According to CBS Dallas-Ft. Worth, Dewhurst made the call on August 3, four hours after his niece was arrested for shoplifting at an Allen, TX Kroger grocery store.

“This is David Dewhurst, the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Texas, and I want to talk to your senior officer who is there at your department right now," Dewhurst said at the beginning of the call.

When the Republican got a police sergeant on the phone, he proceeded to insist that his niece, Ellen Bevers, is "the sweetest person in the world," and that she should be released as quickly as possible.

“What I would like to do is if you would explain to me, sergeant, what I would need to do to arrange for getting her out of jail this evening,” he said. “You can proceed with whatever you think is proper.”

Allen police say they handled the case just as they would any other case of a relative calling about an inmate. The sergeant on duty explained that Bevers was charged with a Class B misdemeanor and would be transferred to the Collin County Sheriff's Office for arraignment.

Dewhurst asked for the county judge's phone number, but the officer would not give it to him.

“What do I need to do to not circumvent anything, follow the law, because this is ridiculous,” Dewhurst insisted.

A spokesperson for the Allen Police Department, Sgt. John Felty, said that neither his department nor the lieutenant governor did anything wrong, "He didn’t threaten anybody. He didn’t demand anything. He didn’t ask for anything that was above and beyond what a normal citizen would."

Dewhurst's office released a statement that said, "David acted as a concerned family member in an attempt to acquire information on how to post bail for his niece while reiterating multiple times in the full conversation that law-enforcement follow their normal protocols and procedures.”

Watch video about this story, embedded below via CBS Dallas-Ft. Worth:

Listen to audio of the 911 call, embedded below via Soundcloud:

[image via Texas Lt. Gov Official Website]