Sheriff Mack Witnesses Abuse of "Bedridden Woman"

By Edward Snook
Investigative Reporter

Nannette Carley

Tomball, TX – Nannette Carley’s life was seemingly normal. She owned a small business, paid the bills, enjoyed her family – the kind of things most people take for granted. When she moved to the quaint, little city of Tomball, Texas, everything changed.

Within four years of her relocation to Tomball, the Tomball Police Department had reportedly charged her with infractions/crimes 24 separate times, arresting her on numerous occasions, which caused her to spend many nights in jail. Due to the arrests and incarcerations, Nannette stated that she, “missed work, lost over $60,000 in personal property, and spent countless, tireless hours along with her hard-earned money defending herself.” Nonetheless, she still had felony charges and impending court dates looming. At one point, Nannette stated she had seven cases, with 16 separate charges, set for trial on the same day! To complicate matters, Nannette was battling a life-threatening thyroid disease that often left her bedridden. This same disease had killed Nannette’s mother when she was Nannette’s age. 

The nightmare started in 2008 when Nannette called the Tomball Police Department to report a stolen credit card. After an uncomfortable encounter with police regarding the matter, Nannette regrettably remembers laughing in an attempt to ease what she described as an “awkward interaction.” Thus began Nanette Carley’s tumultuous relationship with the Tomball Police Department. 

A few weeks later, Nannette was pulled over just a few blocks away from her home by Officer Kenny Yoho. Her ex-husband, who was nearby, offered to produce Nannette’s auto insurance documents, but Officer Yoho allegedly refused acceptance. Officer Yoho then inexplicably ordered Nannette’s ex to leave. After Nannette’s ex-husband obliged, Yoho wrote Nannette a ticket for, of all things, not having current auto insurance. The ticket was later dismissed. 

It wasn’t more than a month later that Nannette had her next run-in with Tomball police. While visiting a nearby apartment complex, Nannette was detained and questioned for almost an hour despite the fact that no victim came forward and no crime had been committed. When she asked the Tomball Police Officers why she was being held against her will, they informed her they had received a complaint that, “someone was trespassing at the apartments and wouldn’t leave.” Nannette was eventually told she could leave. 

As weeks passed, Nannette stated that she received, “one ticket after another.” While she was able to prove her innocence against the unfounded accusations and citations, her health began to deteriorate, making it more difficult for her to keep up with the constant “barrage of attacks” by Tomball PD. The seemingly endless cycle of paperwork and court dates grew overwhelming, and she simply was not able to keep up. “In the beginning,” Nannette said, “I just thought they had me confused with someone else. What I later came to find out was that Tomball Police Officer DeWayne Eickenhorst was spreading lies about me at the department, touching off a ‘get her’ mentality amongst other Tomball police officers.” Ironically, it was actually other Tomball police officers who reportedly “informed” Nannette of the slander.

It was only a matter of time before Nannette missed a court date. After suffering a demobilizing heart attack, and surgery, Nannette asked to reschedule one of her court dates, or, for the court to dismiss the charges on account of her compromised state of health. According to Nannette, in spite of her heartfelt and seemingly reasonable requests, Judge Walker, along with Judge Korduba and Judge Covington, “declined to help, resulting in Judge Walker issuing warrants for Nannette’s arrest.”

The harassment of Nannette Carley increased, and she soon suffered another heart attack, again requiring surgery. While Nannette recovered at home, Officers Chris Burns and Alfred Hernandez parked their squad car nearby, reportedly setting up watch on a regular basis in front of Nannette’s home. On one occasion, Nannette remembered the officers, “banged on her front door for over 45 minutes.” Meanwhile, Nannette was suffering from her chronic illness, trying to recover from a heart attack, as she layed in bed unable to respond or get the rest she needed. 

According to multiple sources, Officers Burns and Hernandez would hide around the corner in the church parking lot or behind another car at the end of her street and monitor Nannette’s friends, family, and visitors – never wasting an opportunity to pull them over and write a ticket as they came and went. With seemingly unbreakable focus and patience, they waited to “pounce on me (Nannette) whenever I left the house,” Nannette stated, “which wasn’t often, due to my compromised health.” While her caretakers did most of her errands, the few times she did leave the safety of her home, Tomball police were usually there to meet her.

According to Nannette, Officer Virginia Gorman went as far as knocking on Nannette’s door, demanding her identification so she could write her more tickets. When she refused to oblige Officer Gorman, which she undeniably had the right to do; she was cited five times. Two weeks later, the US Postal Service delivered the citations – two for a dog at large, two for an unvaccinated dog, and one for failure to supply Officer Gorman with identification. Nannette stated that, “these charges were absolutely false.” 

Documents obtained through the Texas Public Information Act (TPIA) subsequently revealed that Officer Gorman had lied on sworn statements in order to file charges and issue warrants against Nannette.

Fast Forward to February 25, 2012. 

Nannette was driving home after running errands when a Tomball PD vehicle began following her just a few blocks away from her house. She pulled into her driveway and removed her keys from the ignition only to be met by two TPD officers with their guns drawn ordering her to step away from her vehicle. While in her own driveway, having committed no crime, Tomball PD Officers arrested her for felony evasion. Unbeknownst to the two officers, Former Sheriff Richard Mack, whose car they had passed in pursuit of Nannette, witnessed the entire wrongful arrest and has provided a signed affidavit regarding this information. 

Nannette was then taken to police headquarters. A little less than an hour later, her purse, which had been locked in the car she was ordered to exit at gunpoint, arrived at the police station, allegedly missing $4,000.00. Officer Burns was responsible for the chain of custody of the purse, and he claimed to have no knowledge of the money or of what may have happened to it.

Sheriff Richard Mack

Having witnessed the arrest, Sheriff Mack went to the police department to offer his assistance. He tried to reason with Tomball police officers, pointing out that the arrest he had just witnessed had no legal grounds. Nonetheless, they refused to give in, continuing their pursuit against Nannette. Unfortunately for Tomball PD, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office refused to charge Nannette for felony evasion. Once again, Nannette was released without any formal charges filed, but only after spending the entire day in jail before being released after midnight to walk home alone in the dark.

“…these cops were going to do
something really stupid.” –Sheriff Richard Mack

Sheriff Richard Mack later signed an affidavit, attesting to the abuse he witnessed (we strongly recommend reading this). 

Tomball Police continued to, “Harass Nannette’s family, friends, and co-workers, constantly stopping and ticketing them for no apparent reason.” Nannette almost got used to the, “site of guns pointed her direction” every time Tomball police officers “unfoundedly pulled her over.” According to Nannette, eventually, “the gun-wielding cops began to point their pieces at anyone riding along with her.” 

In spite of the fact that the charges against Nannette Carley were consistently dismissed due to insufficient evidence for prosecution, the harassment escalated. 

While Nannette was on her way home from the pharmacy, Tomball Police Officer Chris Burns pulled her over. Knowing she had been unsuccessfully cited four or five times in the past for diving with a suspended license, Officer Burns allegedly tried a new tactic. Since each of the previous citations had been dismissed on account of the fact that Nannette did not have a suspended driver’s license, he charged her with “Failure to Display Driver’s License on Demand.” Well aware that a conviction for this charge could not be obtained without bending the truth; Officer Burns, “committed felony perjury,” by reportedly lying on the witness stand to convict Nannette. 

Four witnesses subsequently came forward, attesting to the fact that Officer Burns had committed felony perjury to get Nannette convicted of a simple citation. They even sent affidavits of probable cause for Officer Burns’ arrest to Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia, but Sheriff Garcia allegedly, “did nothing, ignoring the affidavits and refused Nannette’s requests for a meeting.”

After spending a number of nights in jail for another false arrest, Nannette was released in late 2012, just in time to travel to Las Vegas to receive a “Citizen of the Year” award from the Constitutional Sheriff’s and Peace Officers Association. Sheriff Jeff Christopher of Sussex County, Delaware bestowed on her the title of “Honorary Deputy Sheriff.” These don’t sound like the kind of accolades given to criminals; nevertheless, Nannette would be locked up by TPD again within 24 hours of returning home. 

In June of 2013, Nannette had another encounter with Tomball PD. Nannette had allowed one of her staff members to stay free-of-charge in a fully-furnished home she owned a few doors down from where she lived herself. Unfortunately, Nannette learned that this staff member was “stealing from her.” During a confrontation with the alleged thief/employee, the police were called, and they threw Nanette off of her own property where she had been graciously allowing the “thief” to stay. TPD allegedly threatened to charge Nannette with trespass if she didn’t vacate the premises. 

Witnesses recall that the woman who was staying in Nannette’s home, Summer Marie Presswood, and her boyfriend, Ryan Roch, were, “discovered with over $2000.00 in stolen company products previously destined for Nannette’s customers.” Additionally, “$400 worth of stolen office supplies were found in the custody of Presswood and Roch.” Rather than arrest the “thieves”, TPD threatened to arrest Nannette if she insisted on pressing charges. A search of the home also allegedly revealed drugs and drug-use paraphernalia, but, “TPD ignored the drugs.” Presswood and Roch were reportedly allowed to illegally squat in Nannette’s newly furnished home. 

Witnesses continued, “TPD promised Nannette that if she submitted a 3-day-vacate notice to the residents of her property, they would force Presswood and Roch to vacate once the three days were up.” In the meantime, Nannette spent $7000 to have private security officers ensure that none of her possessions or business products left the property. Three days passed, and TPD told Nannette that she still needed to file a formal eviction notice if she wanted Presswood and Roch gone. Why?

Former Police Chief Robert Hauck

Over the next 45 days, Nannette worked tirelessly to legally evict Presswood and Roch. Several encounters between Nannette, the “two thieves,” and TPD took place. Former Police Chief Robert Hauck, well aware of Nannette’s situation as well as the alleged thievery and drug use going on in the house, promised Nannette that he would, “arrest Presswood and Roch if any of Nannette’s property was missing.”

In the meantime, Nannette was given no way to enter the property she so graciously allowed her employee and boyfriend to live in, and she had no legal method by which to remove her possessions. When Nannette tried to ensure her property was not damaged or stolen by hiring private investigators and security to follow Presswood, “TPD again threatened to charge her with harassment.”

According to Nannette, once she was finally allowed to enter the home she owned, she discovered that all of her new solid-wood and leather furniture and new appliances had been stolen along with office equipment, sinks, faucets, shower-heads, the garbage disposal, cabinet-knobs, curtains, curtain-rods, a trampoline, and about $6000.00 worth of religious books, and other stored items and appliances. Nannette explained, “The house was basically trashed and gutted!”

Nannette immediately called TPD. They first informed her that it was a civil issue, not theft, but upon her insistence they hesitantly filed a report and promised to, “arrest Presswood.”

Detective Albert Chambers was assigned to the case. After a brief investigation, he informed Nannette that there was no way to prove that Presswood had stolen the items. This, he insisted in spite of the fact that Presswood had, “returned Nanette’s stolen cell phone and stolen car title” to Chambers himself. Nannette recalled, “a flat screen television the same size and description of the one stolen (from Nannette’s house) eventually turned up at the local pawn shop, pawned by Presswood, and at Presswood’s new home, a nearly-new trampoline identical to the one missing (from Nannette’s rental property) was proudly displayed,” but Chambers and his fellow officers at TPD did nothing. 

Former Police Chief Robert Hauk was directly involved with this investigation, and he too failed to serve justice. Chief Hauk, a Tomball transplant from Los Angeles, CA. has a history of “covering up crimes” leveled by his department, and, internal investigations all too often lead nowhwere. One witness stated, “Police, policing other police usually ends with nothing being accomplished for the real victims.”

Presswood and Roch were never arrested or charged with any crimes associated with the theft of Nannette’s property.

Continuing with their harassment of Nannette, TPD finally got the Harris County DA’s office to bite on the bogus charge of felony evasion. Reportedly, Nannette’s attorney Andrea Kolsky stated that charge should never have been filed in the first place. Chief Hauck allegedly insisted that the District Attorney’s office, “get her for something.” Succumbing to pressure from TPD and Chief Hauck, the DA’s office refused to do the right thing and began prosecuting Nannette.

On the day of her hearing, Nannette stated that she, “fell ill, vomiting and defecating blood.” Showing up late due to her physical condition, Judge Susan Brown sentenced her to 5 days in jail to, “teach her a lesson about tardiness.” In no condition health-wise to spend time in jail, combined with fear of the lewd victimization she’d been subjected to by fellow prisoners during previous stints in jail, she took a plea bargain for “failure to stop,” avoiding jail time.

During this period of time, Tomball Police Officers Chris Burns and Alfred Hernandez were spotted by neighbors on at least, “two occasions” performing illegal searches of Nannette’s two properties while she was away. These same officers also allegedly sought entry to her home on four separate occasions, claiming 911 calls were received from the residence. Nannette and her employees confirmed that all phone lines in the house had been previously disconnected, cut, and capped. With no phone lines connected in Nannette’s residence, there is absolutely no possibility that any 911 calls were made, begging a number of questions. Why were there claims of calls being made? If there were calls made, who made them and where did they come from? Is it possible that no calls were made and TPD chose to act in accordance with its own set of abusive rules? 

Tomball, Texas, a small town (I’ve been there) of barely 11,000 people has a police force that embraces the “police state” mentality. Does a town this small really need a police force like this?

Not one public official or employee has been arrested for their alleged crimes against Nannette Carley. According to Nannette, Gary Hammond, the Tomball PD Internal Affairs officer, “investigated” a number of these issues and, “failed to find any crimes committed by TPD.” Go figure…

In a desperate act to protect their own interests, “TPD refused to release video-taped footage of many incidents involving Nannette,” stating that they, “lack the proper equipment to redact (edit out private information such as addresses, ID#’s, etc.) the footage.”

During all of the arrests, searches, citations, and investigations, Nannette was never found in possession of anything illegal. Furthermore, aside from the “failure to display” charge, which is currently in the appeals process, TPD only had two charges stick, both of which are highly suspicious. After over 24 arrests or citations, years of harassment, and numerous dropped charges, only one citation and one misdemeanor remain today. 

The cost of all of this is astonishing. Nannette, “closed her previously successful business, moved, attended dozens of court dates, lost $4000 cash in the purse incident, suffered $60K in damage to her house, spent several nights in jail, spent thousands on jail bonds, paid $25K in security and investigative fees to protect her property, and over $25K in legal fees.” 

How much money has the city of Tomball spent to get one citation and one misdemeanor conviction of an ill lady described by many as a generous, successful, “Citizen of the Year?” Furthermore, how much more is it going to cost Tomball to undue this mess? 

The US~Observer will be moving forward with further investigations until the issues and questions raised in this article are addressed, and Nannette is both vindicated and compensated for the unjust events that have taken place. We are confident that we will obtain evidence that forces the filing of charges against those who violated Nannette’s rights.

If you have any information regarding anyone in this article, please contact the US-Observer immediately at (541)-474-7885 or editor@usobserver.com.