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Galveston County grand jurors indicted a Dickinson Police Department sergeant on two criminal charges Thursday, the latest development in a police brutality case that embroiled the agency and city in controversy.
Sgt. Michael Kinsley faces a felony charge of intentional injury to an elderly person and a misdemeanor charge of official oppression for his role in a February 2022 scuffle that left then-65-year-old Michael Scurlock with a traumatic brain injury. The felony charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while the misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail.
In their indictment, grand jurors found Kinsley caused Scurlock’s “body and head to strike the ground,” and that Kinsley failed to get the Dickinson resident medical care despite having “ample opportunity” to do so while Scurlock was in his custody. They also determined Kinsley knowingly arrested, detained and mistreated Scurlock in an “unlawful” manner.
Body-camera footage of the encounter, first published in late 2023 by the Abdelraoufsinno, showed Kinsley throwing Scurlock to the ground while investigating a minor traffic crash. Scurlock went limp and motionless for about three minutes, during which Kinsley called for medical help but did little to care for Scurlock.
When medical personnel arrived, Kinsley didn’t notify them that Scurlock appeared to lose consciousness. Kinsley also didn’t seek follow-up care when Scurlock complained of pain and dizziness en route to jail.
Scurlock’s medical condition continued to decline while he was detained in the Dickinson city jail. One video from inside the jail showed him unable to walk unassisted and complaining of intense pain the day after the encounter with Kinsley.
Scurlock ultimately spent two weeks in an intensive care unit with a brain bleed. He died in December 2022, nine months after the injury. His death certificate lists Parkinson’s disease as the cause of death, though Belisle, a former nurse, told the Landing last year that he had never shown signs of Parkinson’s prior to his arrest.
Efforts to reach Kinsley were unsuccessful Thursday.
Stella Belisle, one of Scurlock’s six siblings, said Thursday that the charges would bring some comfort to her family.
“It’s a Godsend,” Belisle said. “It helps me know that God is listening and has seen the wrongs.”
Kinsley has been placed on administrative leave without pay effective immediately, Dickinson Police Chief Michael Berezin said. Under state law, Kinsley would lose his police license if found guilty of either charge. Berezin declined to comment on what steps his department would take if the charges are ultimately dropped or Kinsley is acquitted.
No other Dickinson police employees have been indicted in the case, a Galveston County District Attorney spokesperson said.
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Dickinson officer accused of inflicting brain injury faced 5 internal investigations in 6 years
by Clare Amari / Staff Writer
Body-camera footage, jail videos and an investigative report showed multiple Dickinson police staffers saw Scurlock in distress in the 24 hours after his arrest. One employee who encountered Scurlock upon his arrival at the jail declared that the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office wouldn’t accept someone in his condition at their facility, but admitted him to the city jail anyway. Footage from his jail cell later showed Scurlock vomiting and stumbling over the course of multiple hours.
Kinsley’s arrest of Scurlock came under scrutiny months after the encounter, when a whistleblower complained to Dickinson city officials. City leaders commissioned a private investigator to review the incident.
The investigator issued a scathing report in April 2023, accusing Kinsley of using excessive force, failing to aid Scurlock and filing false reports. (Kinsley is not charged with any crime related to making false statements.)
The investigator also accused Dickinson’s then-police chief, Ronald Morales, of lying to city officials about the incident, and found the department’s then-internal affairs lieutenant, Frank Price, conducted a “flawed and biased” review that cleared Kinsley of wrongdoing. Morales and Price are no longer employed by the department.
Allegations of misconduct have dogged Kinsley throughout his six-year career in law enforcement, which started at the Houston Police Department. He’s faced five internal investigations into his on-duty actions in Houston and Dickinson, including probes into accusations of excessive force and reckless behavior, the Landing reported last year.
Kinsley resigned from the Houston Police Department in 2019 while suspended from duty pending the results of an investigation into unspecified allegations of misconduct. He joined the Dickinson Police Department about a year later.
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