HOUSTON – Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is adding 10 people to her staff investigating the deadly, botched Harding Street raid.
Ogg made the announcement Wednesday after a 5-0 vote by the Harris County Commissioners Court that approved funding for the additional staff in the DA’s Civil Rights Division.
The seven prosecutors and three investigators, which Ogg said in June would cost about $2 million, will more than double the size of the division.
“We now have the horsepower to get to the bottom of the Harding Street raid and related concerns,” Ogg said in a written statement Wednesday. “The public deserves answers sooner than later."
In an exclusive interview with KPRC 2 Investigates on Wednesday afternoon, Ogg told Mario Diaz, "Harding Street represents the most in-depth, wide investigation my administration has faced because there are many narcotics officers involved in that division, there was a squad involved and the impact that they had on a lot of people's lives is worth looking at, especially when it comes to this shooting."
It’s been a little more than six months since officers stormed into 7815 Harding St. Police said Dennis Tuttle engaged in a gun battle with officers. Tuttle and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas, were killed during the exchange, police said.
Houston police Officer Gerald Goines is accused of lying on the affidavit used to get a no-knock warrant that led to the raid.
The DA’s office has launched an investigation into more than 2,000 cases involving the Houston Police Department’s narcotics division, including the Harding Street raid.