News release from College Station police:
On Thursday, January 21, at about 1 a.m. Investigators with the Special Investigations Unit of the College Station Police Department (CSPD) were conducting surveillance on an individual involved in a long-term investigation. The Investigators had reason to believe the suspect, 33-year-old College Station Resident Ryan D Stallings, was transporting large quantities of narcotics in his vehicle.
College Station Officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle in the 1300 block of Earl Rudder Freeway and the vehicle pulled into a driveway off the northbound East Feeder between Harvey Road and University Drive. The vehicle was occupied by the driver, Ryan Stallings, and his girlfriend, Celeste Perez, a 26-year-old resident of College Station.
The traffic stop was initiated by K-9 Officer Matthew Newton, an eight year veteran of the College Station Police Department. K-9 Officer Newton was assisted on the stop by Investigators from the College Station Police Departments Special Investigations Unit, and two Troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety. K-9 Officer Newton made the initial contact with Stallings and Perez. There is no indication Stallings knew K-9 Officer Newton had additional support officers on scene.
Several minutes into the traffic stop, with officers having reason to believe that the vehicle contained narcotics, Stallings and Perez were instructed to exit thier vehicle. Stallings admitted to K-9 Officer Newton that he had a handgun next to him in the center console of his vehicle. K-9 Officer Newton gave Stallings repeated, clear instructions not to reach for the handgun. After Perez exited the vehicle, Stallings ignored repeated commands to exit the vehicle before lunging into the center console and producing his handgun.
Stallings’s actions forced K-9 Officer Newton to defend himself as he was trained to do in such a situation when his life is threatened with imminent death or serious bodily injury. As the contact deteriorated and Stallings produced a handgun, the two State Troopers on scene also discharged their firearms at Stallings. Questions regarding the State Troopers involvement should be directed to Texas DPS Sergeant Erik Burse.
Stallings was immediately incapacitated by the gunfire. Officers immediately radioed for paramedics to respond to the scene. While securing the vehicle to render the scene safe, Officers recovered the loaded handgun from Stallings. Although paramedics were summoned to render aid, Stallings had suffered immediate critical injury and there was no medical intervention that could revive him.
Investigators later searched the vehicle and recovered a large quantity of illegal narcotics, including about 2.3 kilos of cocaine and 1.0 kilo of MDMA (commonly called Ecstasy or Molly).
Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance-greater than 400 grams is the highest level of offense for the Penalty Group 1 narcotic. The offense is an enhanced 1st degree felony and punishable by 15-99 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Perez admitted to being in a dating relationship with, and residing at the same address as Stallings. Perez admitted to traveling from College Station to another city in Texas to traffic a wholesale amount of MDMA and cocaine to Brazos County. Perez was able to provide intimate knowledge of drug sale within Brazos County that was subsequently corroborated through the execution of a search warrant at her residence in Brazos County.
The couple’s residence was searched under authority of a search warrant just before 5 a.m. that same morning.
During this search warrant, at least 400 grams each of cocaine, Adderall, and THC were located. Also located was a working digital scale with a white powerdy substance and packaging material consistent with street level drug sales.
While the precise weights and counts of the substantial amount of narcotics recovered from this investigation are still being processed, the total preliminary values include approximately:
1.0 kilo of “Molly”
3.9 kilos of cocaine
8.7 kilos of Adderall (21,673 pills)
0.9 kilos of Xanax (4,505 pills)
0.6 kilos of THC
61 cartridges of THC
2.1 kilos of marijuana
These narcotics have a total approximate weight of over 17 kilos, with an estimated street value of $452,800. Approximately $10,000 in cash, believed to be the proceeds of illegal narcotics sales, was also seized.
For the narcotics located at the residence and in the vehicle, Ms. Perez has been arrested on two counts of Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance, Penalty Group 1 and three counts of Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance, Penalty Group 2.
Regarding our agency’s use of force: Each year, we average about 100,000 citizen contacts, which lead to the use force about 100 times. This is about half the national average. An officer’s determination for using force and the level of force used is based upon the officer’s evaluation of the situation in light of the totality of the circumstances known to the officer at the time the force is applied. The determination is based upon what a reasonably prudent officer would use under the same or similar situations, rather than the perfect vision of hindsight.
The last time a College Station Police Officer used lethal force was on August 13, 2012 in response to a suspect’s shooting rampage on Fidelity Street. The 2012 Fidelity Street Shooting resulted in the deaths of Brazos County Precinct 1 Constable Brian Bachmann, a citizen, and the suspect in that incident. One College Station Police Officer and another citizen were also injured in the gunfire.
Due to the consequential nature of using any degree of force —including deadly force —our officers receive annual training on our Use of Force Policy and the authority to use force under the Texas Penal Code. Employees receive legal updates on the use of force as changes occur.
Periodically, we provide additional training to reinforce the importance of effective communication, de-escalation and to strengthen our use of proper techniques.
As a nationally accredited law enforcement agency for almost 30 years, we adhere to the best practices and highest standards in our industry. That means we continually review our policies and practices to ensure our officers conduct themselves with the highest level of professionalism and integrity.
We are unequivocally committed to protecting, serving, and proactively engaging with everyone in our community.
The outcome of Stallings’s actions during this narcotics investigation is tragic, and we are saddened by the grief the family and friends of the deceased must be feeling during this difficult time.
Three different agencies are conducting concurrent investigations into this incident: the College Station Police Department, the Texas Rangers, and the Brazos County District Attorney’s Office. At this time, these are all the details that can be released by our agency. When our investigation is concluded, it will be presented to the Brazos County District Attorney’s Office for review.