Santuarioactedas the "caseagent" and the "pointman,,for the entry
seeTex. PeNar,coon ANNr.$ 37.09(dX1) (vemonsupp. 2Mg; appellatecause number0l-14-00343-cR;trial courtcausenumber13g74g5. see Tpx. HearrH & sepnrv coop AwN. $$4s1.102(3xD), 481.115(a), (b) {:ryf" 2010); appellate cause number ot-t+-oo:+4-cR; trial court cause number 1397496. team' HPD Officer J. Elkins 'obreached the [front] door" of the residence.while
I{PD OffrcerDelacertadeployedthe..flashbang."3
As Officer Santuarioenteredthe residence,he saw appellant,who ,,was
armed,"and ChristopherHutchinsonrun into a hallway and then into a restroom.
He followed them because"[n]ormally in a situationlike th[is]', peoplerun to 'odiscardor destroynarcotics." When Santuarioarrived in the restroom,he saw
Hutchinson"kneelingdown in front of the toilet," 'oonthe floor,,,while appellant
threw a small 'opistol" onto the restroomfloor and then flushed the toilet
repeatedly.The "pistol" o\vasa fioaded]semiautomaticf,] . . . small silver guo,,,
with ooaround in the chamber." Although Santuarioorderedappellantto ,ostop,,
flushing the toilet, he refusedand "[c]ontinuedflushing or pulling the [toilet] lever." WhenSantuariotried to removeappellantfrom the toilet,he resisted.
While appellantflushedthe toilet, Hutchinson'ohadhis handsin the toilet
bowl," and Officer Santuarioo'sawsomethingleave his hands." As Santuario
explained:"[I]t was [a] couplethingsthatweresmall[,which] [l]ookedlike plastic bags.. .." Generally,peopledo not "flush emptyplastic bagsdown the toilet,"
but rather "narcotics." Thus, it appearedto Santuario that appellant and
Hutchinson were working together to flush the items down the toilet. When
Officer Elkins commandedHutchinsonto o'stop"and "put his handsaway from the
Oflicer Santuarioexplainedthat a "flash bang" "is a distractiondevice,,thatmakes a loud gunshot-likesound,flasheslight, andieleasesminimal smoke. toilet"' he did not comply. Elkins, therefore,o'reached in and basicallyyanked
[Hutchinson] away from the toilet." After the offrcers removedappellantand
Hutchinsonfrom the restroom,they "handcuffedand . . . escorted [them] out of the residence."
Officer Santuariothen took "a closer look at th[e] toilet" and .,removedit
from the base[on] the floor." Insidethe toilet,he foundo'asmall baggiethat had
crack cocainein it." FIPDofficersalso searched the remainder the residence, ,of appellant,and Hutchinson,and they recovered$2,103 in cash, marijuanaand
related paraphernalia,a "small digital scale,,,a beaker,a revolver, and a ,.baby
bottlewith what appeared to be codeineinsideof it."
Officer Elkinstestifiedthat he assistedwith the executionof the oono knock',
searchwarrant at the residence.He breachedthe residence'sfront door with a
"[b]attering device," and officer Delacertadeployedthe .,flash bang." After
Santuarioyelled,,,[r]unners,,, Elkins followed Officer Santuariointo the residence,
to alert the other officersthat "individuals insidethe residence [were] running." Generally,peoplerun in situationssuchasthis to "hide," "get rid of something,,, or to "get away from officers." Elkins saw appellantand Hutchinsonrun toward the
restroom,and he and Santuariopursued.
Onceinsidethe restroom, OfficerElkinssawappellant'odisc ard"a,,[s]ilver
automaticpistol" onto the floor and Hutchinson"by the toilet area discarding somethinginsidethe toilet." Hutchinsonhad his hands'oinsidethe toilet,,,and it lookedlike he was "[d]iscardingitemsinto the toilet." After Elkins commanded Hutchinsonto "show his hands"and 'ogetdown on the ground,"he did not comply. Although his focus was on Hutchison,Elkins saw appellanto'reaching toward the lever of the toilet," "obseryedhis handson the levero"and could hearthe toilet flushing. According to Elkins, the toilet 'ohadbeen flushed several times.,, Eventually,Elkins o'forcefully. . .pullfed] [Hutchinson]off the toilet,' and took him into custody. In a subsequentsearchof the restroom,Elkins saw Offrcer
Santuario'orecovera srnall bag of what appear[ed]to be crack cocaineout of the bottom of the toilet." t{PD officers also recoveredmarijuana, codeine, gfld
"anotherpistol" from the residence.
Mona Colcatestifiedthat she,as a criminalistwith the controlledsubstances
sectionof the IIPD CrimeLaboratory,"receive[s]andanalyze[s]evidence',to ,.test