IS LAGUNA VISTA-PORT ISABEL A PEYTON PLACE-BY-THE SEA?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Port Isabel, South Padre Island Press

Is it the seafood? Or maybe the proximity to the sea?

Whatever the case, it appears that passions are boiling along the shoreline at racy Launa Vista and in nearby poker-hot Port Isabel just down Highway 100.

Figuring prominently in this torrid affair is none other than Bettina Tolin, Laguna Vista City Commissioner Place 3,  Anthony (Tony) David, Laguna Vista Chief of Police, and Oscar Del Abra, a city employee at Port Isabel. 

They are being countersued by Laguna Vista businessman Mack Daniel Bryant who (along with resident Sherman Lee) were originally sued last September by Tolin for defamation, negligence, emotional distress, invasion of privacy and conspiracy.

In the original lawsuit filed against Bryant, Tolin claimed she and Bryant were in a "relationship" that had ended in 2021 and that  Bryant continued repeated attempts at reconciliation. She also charged that a photo of her in a compromising position with Abra in a swimming pool had been sent by Bryant to various individuals, among them Point Isabel Independent School District (PIISD) Chief of Police Roberto Rodriguez, and she later claimed that the same colored photograph was also found in her mailbox. 

Tolin alleged that Bryant was responsible, and allegedly, his intentions were to ruin her professional, personal and political reputation. 

But when the case came before visiting judge Judge Manuel Banales, Tolin's claims that she had only been together with Abra that one time were dashed when defense attorney Louis Sorola produced an audio recording that proved she and Abra had committed perjury and revealed that the couple had been sexually together more than the one time besides having been together in the swimming pool. 

It all came to a head on the night that Nov. 9, 2021, when Bryant, allegedly delivering food to Tolin (whom he claims was his girlfriend at the time), visited her workplace at Marcelo’s Management Co., Inc. He claimed to have noticed the building was dark except for Tolin’s office and found the entrance locked. 

He allegedly saw two individuals inside the office getting dressed in a hurry. According to Bryant, seeing the vehicles belonging to Tolin and Chief of Police David in the parking lot led to his conclusion that they were the two individuals inside. 

The situation deteriorated after that, with  David calling  Sergeant Steve Reyes and other officers as backup who confronted Bryan outside the building and  who requested identification after deeming Bryant suspicious. Bryant, unable to find his wallet, provided a passport and an old driver’s license from his bank bag; within the bag were also a checkbook, a vaccine card and cash. 

After examining his identification, Reyes allegedly told Bryant to leave or face arrest. Bryant claims he refused as “he was doing nothing wrong,” leading to an alleged back and forth where Reyes and another officer, who, as stated in the filing, was merely following Reyes’ orders, handcuffed him. According to Bryant, when Tolin and David left the premises, Reyes uncuffed Bryant without issuing a ticket or making an official arrest.

Bryant alleged his passport and $3,000 in cash were missing from his vehicle. He claimed they were taken while he was detained without probable cause, thus reporting the alleged theft. The filing also accused Chief of Police David of erasing video footage from the office building to destroy evidence, a spoliation act, as well as calling the officers to the office to have Bryant unlawfully arrested. Bryant seeks sanctions and a spoliation jury instruction against the plaintiffs.

Then photos of Tolin and Abra surfaced in various places depicting her in a compromising position with Abra, which she claimed were distributed by Bryant and On Dec. 10, 2021, Bryant was arrested and charged with three counts related to his publishing of the photographs, according to the first amended original petition filing. Bryant was charged with two counts of the state jail felony offense of unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material and one count of the misdemeanor offense of harassment. Post-release from custody, Bryant was arrested for additional counts of the state jail felony offense, totaling 11 felony charges.

However, after further examination of witnesses for Apr. 3, on Apr. 4, 2024, according to the court transcripts, evidence surfaced of an audio recording between Tolin and Abra that disproved their under-oath statements that their sexual encounter in the pool was the only time. The audio evidence played in court depicts the two engaging sexually in a garage, leading to the Cameron County District Attorney's Office to file a motion for dismissal of  the indictment.

Judge Banales granted the motion based on the aggravated perjured testimony by Tolin and Abra. According to the Texas Penal Code, aggravated perjury occurs when a person commits perjury, and the false statement is material or could have affected the case outcome. If a civil or criminal complaint is filed, allegedly knowing no crime was committed, a malicious prosecution claim can be pursued, thus leading to the May 23, 2024, counter petition.

Solora also motioned for a return of property for the $3,000 and passport that were allegedly taken when Bryant was detained and did not receive formal charges.
 

The motion also calls for the return of Bryant’s iPad and iPhone, which were seized during investigations for State of Texas v. Daniel Bryant. It states that now that the case has been dismissed, formal requests for Bryant’s property have been denied by the Laguna Vista Police Department for “no valid reason.”

Solora confirmed with Ayleen Canizales, editor of news at the Press that they will be moving forward with this case and will have a hearing in August.