Wichita Falls police Chief Manuel Borrego said he understands the public wants a quick resolution to an alleged police brutality incident that resulted in one officer being fired and another resigning, but the investigation is not in his hands.
“This is being investigated by the Texas Rangers. I don’t have any involvement in the investigation whatsoever,” Borrego told the Times Record News in an exclusive interview Wednesday. “I don’t want to interfere with this investigation or compromise it in any way. I can’t give you a timeline.”
On Aug. 26, two police officers were dispatched to the McDonald’s restaurant in the 1400 block of Holiday Street to bar a woman who was in a bathroom. The officers arrested Victoria Lang, a young Black woman enrolling at Midwestern State University. Misdemeanor resisting arrest and interfering with a public servant charges against her were later dropped.
Borrego later described body cam footage of the arrest and placement of Lang in a patrol car as “shocking to see.”
As a result, the Wichita Falls Police Department fired officer Daniel Wilson, and officer Douglas Gulley resigned after being suspended. Further investigation into possible criminal charges was turned over to the Rangers.
Video of arrest
“When the investigation is over, we will share all that body cam video in its entirety,” Borrego said.
Although the incident happened in August 2025, Borrego didn’t address it publicly until January 2026 when posts about it emerged on social media.
“It was presented for investigation to the Texas Rangers,” Borrego said. “We were asked to give very limited information — which we have — so that we don’t jeopardize the integrity of the investigation.”
The Times Record News filed an open records request on Jan. 8 with the city, asking for all publicly available information including body camera footage on the arrest and seeking greater transparency.
In withholding the information, the city’s reply contends the police report was confidential “because it deals with the ongoing detection, investigation, or prosecution of a crime,” and because “the City currently anticipates potential civil litigation.”
TRN refiled the request Thursday, asking for a Texas Attorney General’s Office ruling on it.
The chief said how quickly information on incidents of possible police misconduct is released to the public depends on the nature of the incident.
“By law, we have to keep some information confidential for the integrity of the investigation. We will be as transparent as we can without jeopardizing any investigation,” he said.
Internal investigations of complaints against WFPD officers
Borrego said citizen complaints are investigated by the department’s command staff or its Office of Professional Conduct.
The department’s published reports show the Office of Professional Conduct investigated five citizen complaints of use of excessive force and 12 complaints of conduct unbecoming of an officer between 2020 and 2024, the latest year to be published on wfpdnow.com.
“We make sure that our policies haven’t been violated. That no laws have been violated, and that our officers are being respectful and professional while they’re interacting with the public,” Borrego said.
Calls for Borrego’s resignation
There have been calls on social media posts and from members of the public at Wichita Falls City Council meetings for Borrego to step down in the wake of the incident.
Borrego said he was not going to speculate about the future.
“I’m more focused on ensuring our policies and our procedures and our training,” he said. “If we find any gaps in supervision or training or policy, we’re going to correct those.”
Issue of discrimination raised
At a City Council meeting on Tuesday, Councilor Robert Brooks, the only Black member of the panel, said, “I hate to put a color on this thing. I’m trying not to do that. But I can’t look in any other way.”
Borrego said discrimination in his department in any form is not acceptable.
“It violated departmental values, our policies, and certainly our oath of office that we took to serve our community with respect and without bias,” he said.
WFPD recruiting
Borrego said while WFPD has had recruiting problems in recent years, it hasn’t lowered its standards on hiring.
“What you were seeing were much smaller place academies because we weren’t just going to hire anybody to fill our ranks,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita Falls police chief addresses outcry over brutality allegations
Reporting by Lynn Walker, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
