Harding Street raid: Former HPD officer Steven Bryant pleads guilty to federal charges

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A former Houston police officer linked to a botched drug raid in 2019 that ended with the deaths of a man and his wife pleaded guilty to federal charges on Tuesday.

Steven Bryant pleaded guilty to two charges of tampering with a government record.

Bryant was accused of lying to police to try to cover up a bad search warrant. He retired while under investigation after 23 years on the force.

On the afternoon of Jan. 28, 2019, Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas were shot to death in their home at 7815 Harding Street in southeast Houston after police initiated a no-knock raid involving a drug warrant.

In July 2020, a total of 15 new criminal felony charges were filed by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in the ongoing investigation of the raid.

At the time, District Attorney Kim Ogg said warrants were issued for six former Houston narcotics officers, including Bryant and his former partner Gerald Goines.

“The new charges show a pattern and practice of lying and deceit,” Ogg said at the time. “There are mountains more evidence to review, and more charges are likely as we push into the next phase of our investigation.”

Supervisors signed records stating they witnessed street-level officers pay money to confidential informants for buying drugs, when the evidence reveals the supervisors were not actually there, and therefore could not have witnessed what they claimed to have witnessed, according to prosecutors.

Bryant pleaded guilty to the charges via Zoom. He now awaits sentencing, which is scheduled for August 24.