Kent suing former officer for comments made at city council

A former Nolanville police officer who addressed the Copperas Cove city council during a Nov. 15 open forum regarding Copperas Cove city council candidate Gary Kent is now being sued by Kent for her remarks during that forum.

 

Kent, who resigned on Nov. 17 from his position as chief of police in Nolanville, is seeking up to $100,000 in damages, penalties, court costs, and attorney fees against Kathryn Alaniz, who told the council that Kent had falsified government documents, harassed women, assaulted her and abused official capacity.

 

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, Nov. 23 by Dan Corbin of Corbin & Associates in the 52nd Judicial District Court in Gatesville.

 

In the lawsuit, Kent alleges Alaniz “published a statement by oral communication asserting as fact statements against Plaintiff which were known by Defendant to be false” and also injured his political and professional career, falsely charged him with a crime, and that her statements “referred to Plaintiff directly, by name, and in his capacity as Chief of Police and as candidate for the Copperas Cove City Council.”

 

Alaniz as well as another former Nolanville police department employee had filed complaints about Kent with Nolanville City Manager Kara Escajeda. Escajeda had required Kent to be subject to corrective actions, both in January and September 2016.

 

At the time of his resignation, Kent said he was retiring and that it had been something he’d been contemplating for some time, and that he was going to use his time to pursue “new areas I’m interested in.” He was with the department for 21 years. His last day on the job is Dec. 9, but he has been using accumulated vacation time since submitting his notice of resignation.

 

Kent is currently in a runoff against Jay Manning for the place 4 seat on the Copperas Cove city council. He served previously as a councilman from 2010-2015 and ran for mayor in the November 2015 election.