TYLER, Texas — Arrest documents allege Smith County Clerk Karen Phillips grabbed a sheriff's deputy and pushed another deputy during her son Derek's arrest while inside her home, and then screamed "shut up, you idiots" as he was escorted into a patrol vehicle.
Karen Phillips, 65, of Tyler, was booked into the Smith County Jail on Tuesday on a charge of interfering with public duties. She had a $1,000 bond and has now been released from the jail, records show.
The charge stems from the arrest of her son Derek Phillips, who is accused of interfering with a March 28 traffic stop when deputies tried to pull another man, Cody Voss, over for having his tail lights out, according to the sheriff's office.
According to the arrest affidavit, Voss pulled into the Phillips' residence and Derek Phillips pulled his vehicle on to the property as well. Derek Phillips started yelling at the deputy who was speaking with Voss.
The document states Derek Phillips interrupted the deputy multiple times. Voss refused to identify himself during the traffic stop when he was legally detained.
According to the affidavit, Derek Phillips was asked "multiple times" to step back from Voss and the deputy; however, the document states Derek Phillips continued to walk up and yell at the deputy.
While this was happening, Karen Phillips came out of the home, and the document states she and her son followed the deputy toward his patrol vehicle.
Another deputy then came to the scene and that deputy told Derek Phillips that he was impeding the investigation, the affidavit said.
Derek Phillips turned toward the door of the house and ran away from deputies into the home, the document read. Karen Phillips reached her arm toward one of the deputies, trying to stop the pursuit of her son.
She yelled at deputies, "get out of my house" while the officers were trying to apprehend her son in a bedroom of the home. The deputies told her to "step back" multiple times, the document explained.
According to the affidavit, Karen Phillips "reached her arm" between one of the deputies, "pushing him away from Derek Phillips as he was escorted out of the residence by deputies."
On Monday, a Smith County Sheriff's Office detective viewed several TikTok videos of the incident that were filmed by Derek and Karen Phillips, the affidavit said.
In the video, she reached to block a deputy from pursuing her son and physically pushed her arm between the other deputy and her son as he was getting arrested, according to the document.
As her son was getting escorted to the patrol vehicle, the detective said in the affidavit that Karen Phillips yelled, "Shut up, you idiots!"
Derek Phillips was arrested on site on charges of resisting arrest, interfering with public duties and evading arrest. He has since bonded out of jail, according to online records.
The Smith County Sheriff's Office has also released the body camera footage from the March 28 arrest. CBS19 has uploaded the video in its entirety below. Some parts of the video include foul language -- viewer discretion is advised.
The sheriff's office released the following statement about releasing the body camera footage:
“Part of the events that occurred that night were posted to social media. The Sheriff released the bodycam and dashcam video so that the citizens could see the full unedited version of what transpired during this traffic stop. Sheriff Larry Smith stands behind his deputies and the professional manner in which they handled this potentially volatile situation.”
Karen Phillips is the wife of Pct. 3 Commissioner Terry Phillips.
Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman said in a statement Tuesday his office will recuse itself from the prosecution of Derek and Karen Phillips. A prosecutor from outside the county will be chosen to make sure there is no "hint of impropriety."
"While my office is responsible for prosecuting criminal cases occurring in Smith County, we are also responsible for representing Smith County as an organization. Smith County is managed by the Commissioner’s Court," Putman said in the statement. "Terry Phillips is the Commissioner for Precinct Three. Therefore, Commissioner Phillips is a current client of the Smith County District Attorney’s Office for certain matters."