Texarkana Man Accused of Offering Officer $2,500 Bribe After Trespassing Arrest

TEXARKANA, Texas—A man accused of offering to pay thousands of dollars to an officer with the Texarkana Texas Police Department after his arrest for trespassing has been charged with felony bribery.

Frederick Lavor Wyrick, 36, allegedly forced his way into an apartment Sunday where a woman he once dated was living with her child, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Friday. After being arrested for trespassing, Wyrick allegedly pleaded with the officer to release him from custody and offered to pay him as much as $2,500 if he would take the money and let him go.

At the time of his arrest at the woman’s apartment in Texarkana, Texas, Wyrick allegedly showed signs of intoxication, the affidavit said. After determining that Wyrick would be arrested for misdemeanor trespassing, Officer Robert Wright began walking him to his patrol car.

Wyrick was “lively” and “walking fine on his own and speaking loudly on the phone with his mother and with officers,” the affidavit said. When they reached the cruiser, Wyrick allegedly collapsed to the ground and became unresponsive.

One of Wright’s fellow officers performed a sternum rub on Wyrick, which immediately caused him to sit up and “become responsive,” the affidavit said.

“Once the stimulus was removed, Wyrick went right back down and closed his eyes and stopped talking,” the affidavit said.

The officers loaded Wyrick into the back of Wright’s patrol car, and Wright headed toward an emergency room on Pine Street in downtown Texarkana.

On the way to the facility, Wyrick allegedly said his parents have diabetes, “then he said that he also has diabetes,” according to the affidavit.

In an attempt to keep Wyrick alert, Wright asked him questions about the type of diabetes he had.

“Wyrick did not know and told me he takes ‘sugar shots,’” the affidavit said, adding that Wyrick also allegedly claimed to suffer from “blood pressure problems.”

When the patrol car reached the emergency room, Wyrick allegedly lay down in the back seat and again became “suddenly unresponsive.”

Once again, a sternum rub reportedly roused Wyrick, who was pushed into the emergency room in a wheelchair.

While at the hospital, Wyrick allegedly offered Wright $1,000 to release him. Wright told Wyrick “there was no way” he would accept a bribe and did not think Wyrick was serious because he had searched him and knew he did not have that kind of cash.

“Despite my explicit warning against trying to bribe me, Wyrick did not relent,” Wright said in the affidavit. “He continued in this line of conversation the entire time he was being discharged and even continued offering me money in front of [hospital staff].”

On the ride to the Bi-State Justice Building jail, Wyrick allegedly continued to offer Wright money. Wyrick allegedly told Wright that he was expecting to receive a payment related to flooding damage to his property.

Wyrick allegedly offered to bring $1,000 to Wright’s home if he would release him.

“Wyrick went so far as to ask me where I lived so he could deliver the money,” Wright said. “I told him that he did not need to know where I live.”

Wyrick then allegedly offered to meet Wright at a convenience store and asked the officer to put his number in Wright’s phone. The amount of the alleged bribe offer rose from $1,000 to $2,000 to $2,500 during the ride, and Wyrick allegedly tried to appeal to Wright by asking him to think of how the money might help his family.

“I explained to Wyrick that there was no amount of money he could offer me that would result in his release and he should not attempt to bribe a police officer,” the affidavit said.

Wyrick was soon booked into the jail.

Before the arrest, police had been called to an apartment on West 13th Street regarding a burglary in progress. When they arrived, Wyrick allegedly claimed he split his time between the woman’s apartment and his residence and that her daughter had called 911 because she did not want her mother to be happy, the affidavit said.

The woman, who was reportedly too afraid to come outside to speak to officers, told an officer inside her apartment that she and Wyrick had a “short-lived” and casual relationship a few months earlier that ended “because of Wyrick’s possessive and erratic behavior.” She reportedly said Wyrick showed up at her home a few weeks earlier, uninvited, and assaulted her and broke items in her apartment, including a television.

The woman showed officers healing cuts and bruises she claimed to have sustained from Wyrick during that incident, the affidavit said. Wyrick had reportedly been told by the woman that he was not welcome at her home and not to return.

When Wyrick came to her door, the woman reportedly opened it slightly so she could tell him to go away, but Wyrick allegedly wedged a foot in the door and pushed his way inside.

When he realized police had been called, Wyrick allegedly offered to pay the woman as much as $600 to tell police they were not needed.

Officers noted that there was no male clothing or any of Wyrick’s personal property in the apartment, despite his alleged claim that he lived there part of the time.

If convicted of bribery, Wyrick faces two to 20 years in prison.

Wyrick is represented by the Bowie County Public Defender’s Office. The case has been assigned to 5th District Judge Bill Miller.