Texas trooper in hot water after photo op with Michael

Published 11:13 pm Tuesday, October 13, 2015

By Madalyn Mendoza

San Antonio Express-News

When Dallas Cowboys backup running back Christine Michael was stopped on his way to Sunday’s game by a Texas Highway Patrol trooper, he probably didn’t expect it to become a photo op.

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“Got stopped just to take a picture,” the new Cowboy captioned an Instagram photo of himself posing in front of his Bentley with the unnamed trooper on the shoulder of a highway.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said in an emailed statement that’s not exactly what happened.

The athlete was pulled over on the President George Bush Turnpike because the tint on his luxury vehicle’s front windshield looked to be illegal, Sergeant Lonny Haschel said.

The snap-happy officer did not give Michael a ticket, but did ask for a photo before parting ways, the spokesman said.

“The trooper’s actions have been reviewed by DPS and are not consistent with department procedure,” Haschel said. “Corrective action, in the form of a procedural review, will be taken. In conversations with his chain of command, the trooper realized his error in judgement and was apologetic for the incident.”

Earlier this year, another DPS trooper got into trouble by way of Instagram when he posed with rapper, Snoop Dogg, at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin. After being reprimanded by DPS, Billy Spears filed a civil lawsuit against the department claiming he was working an off-duty security shift.

The Cowboys lost to the New England Patriots Sunday by a score of 30-6. Michael touched the ball once on a 6-yard carry.