Officer who ordered arrest, pepper-spraying of man resigns, Keller police say

The Keller police officer who ordered the arrest and pepper-spraying of a man who was filming his son’s arrest has resigned, the police department said Monday.

Officer Blake Shimanek was the officer-in-charge who told another officer to place Marco Puente in handcuffs and pepper-spray him in August. The incident was caught on body-cam and dash-cam videos, and Puente’s arrest made national news after his family filed a civil suit in December.

Monday was Shimanek’s last day with the Keller Police Department, the department said on Twitter.

“While this chapter is coming to a close, the conversations and policy changes that it has inspired will continue to move us forward as a department, a city and a community,” Mayor Armin Mizani is quoted as saying in a tweet from the police department. “This Council and our Police Department led by Chief Fortune remain committed to ensuring encounters like these never happen again, and we will continue working tirelessly to provide every member of our community with a sense of safety and security that reflects Keller’s values.”

Shimanek, previously a sergeant with the department, ordered Officer Antik Tomer to arrest and pepper-spray Puente on Aug. 15. Puente, an emergency electrician who grew up in Keller, was left without medical attention for 15 minutes.

Shimanek had pulled over Puente’s son, Dillon Puente, and accused him of making a wide right-hand turn. He later told a supervising officer he placed Dillon Puente, 22, under arrest because he suspected him of carrying drugs in the car. In a search of the car, no drugs were found.

Shimanek was demoted after an internal investigation into the arrest. Many members of the community, however, called for Shimanek to be fired, and more than 50,000 people signed a Change.org petition for his termination as an officer.

On Jan. 24, the city issued a $200,000 settlement with the Puente family.