CNHI News Service

ORANGE, Texas -- A police captain was "indefinitely suspended" from the force but will not be charged for shooting a man in the parking lot of an auto parts store last summer.

A grand jury last week declined to indict Capt. Robert W. Arnold Jr. in connection with the July 26 shooting, which happened after the off-duty officer intervened in an argument between James Whitehead and the manager of an O'Reilly Auto Parts store. The dispute between Arnold and Whitehead carried into the parking lot, where Arnold eventually shot him.

A Texas Ranger investigated the case, and the Orange County Grand Jury issued a "no bill," meaning it determined Arnold should not be charged, said District Attorney John Kimbrough.

But in a 38-page report issued Wednesday, Orange Police Chief Sam Kittrell wrote the officer should have reacted in a "more appropriate manner" that would have prevented the situation from escalating.

Kittrell noted a police review found Arnold violated 10 department rules including those governing officer behavior and deadly force.

"The grand jury has determined that the actual use of deadly force, when you used it, was appropriate," he wrote. "From a professional standpoint I believe that you could have and should have handled this situation differently so that you would not have gotten to that moment where you had to use deadly force."

Arnold arrived at the store with his 14-year-old daughter that afternoon, shortly after the manager called 911 to report an unruly customer. Whitehead was angry because the store would not accept a returned car part.

Arnold asked Whitehead to stop swearing, when Whitehead turned his anger toward the officer.

Arnold said he went to his car to get a pair of handcuffs when Whitehead followed him out of the store, slinging racial epithets, according to Kittrell's report. Arnold said Whitehead was increasingly aggressive when he pulled his off-duty gun, a Taurus .380, and eventually fired one round.

An ambulance took Whitehead to a Beaumont hospital, where he died that evening.

Arnold was placed on administrative leave at the time. He yesterday indicated plans to appeal the suspension.

Details for this story were reported by The Orange, Texas, Leader.