Dallas to Recognize Heroic Efforts of Homeless Former Crips Leader
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This still from a surveillance video shows Charles Alexander assisting in subduing a man who attacked a Dallas Police officer. (KTVT)(DALLAS) — The Dallas City Council will invite a homeless former gang leader to be honored at one of its meetings as a hero for protecting the life of a police officer.
Charles Alexander, who was a Crips gang member at one point in his life, stepped in during a drug-addled attack on an officer near Alexander’s homeless shelter in Dallas, according to city councilman Dwaine Caraway.
In surveillance video of the attack, Dallas cop Billy Taylor is seen backing away from a man who, according to the councilman, was high on PCP and violent. Alexander crosses the street and steps between Taylor and the attacker, later pulling the man off the police officer and throwing the attacker to the ground.
“(He was) basically doing something heroic, in my opinion, in breaking up something that could have really gone bad,” Caraway said Thursday.
Alexander told local news station KTXA that the attacker was going “ballistic” and he felt he had to step in.
The Dallas police department did not return calls seeking comment.
Caraway said that Alexander would be invited to an upcoming council meeting for a special ceremony and certificate to honor his good deed.
“I view it as someone that was in a gang who has gone on to saving lives. Hopefully we can take that and show other gangbangers that there are some good things you can do versus some of the other things,” Caraway said.
Alexander could not be reached through the Bridge, the homeless shelter where he stays.
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