A Seguin family is calling for accountability after bodycam video shows an officer slam their teen son to the ground during bike stop after he called his dad.
SEGUIN, Texas — Newly released body camera footage is raising questions about a Seguin police officer’s use of force during a stop involving a 16-year-old bicyclist last fall.
The incident happened in September 25, 2025, when Cory Weber said he and a friend were riding their bikes around 10 p.m. Seguin Police Officer Michael Godinez pulled them over at the intersection of N. Heideke and E. Cedar Street.
“He stopped us because I did a California roll at the stop sign,” Weber said.
Weber said the encounter became uncomfortable as the officer continued questioning him, prompting him to try to call his father.
Body camera video shows the officer telling Weber not to make the call. Weber is seen on body camera footage remaining on his phone.
“‘What’d I just say? I said no, right?'” said Officer Godinez to Weber that night. “‘Now you’re calling him. What’s wrong with you?'”
“I thought I had the right to call my dad. No?” Weber replied.
Moments later, Weber’s phone rings with his father on the line. He’s seen answering the call and he begins to describe what’s going on.
Weber said calling his father during traffic stops had never been an issue in prior encounters with police in Seguin. “That’s just a natural thing for me … and they always are OK with it,” he said.
But this time, the situation escalated.
Godinez is seen reaching for the teen’s phone. When Weber doesn’t let the officer take it, that’s when Godinez is seen slamming the teenager to the ground.
“Hey, he’s grabbing me,” Weber can be heard saying in the video so his father can hear on the phone. “He threw me down. He slammed me on the ground.”
Weber said the officer forced him face-first onto the pavement.
“He just swung me, faceplanting me on the ground,” he said.
The video shows Weber being handcuffed just before 11 p.m. He remained detained for roughly five minutes before being unhandcuffed, though the stop continued. Police ultimately released him without a warning or citation.
Weber and his family said he suffered a concussion along with scrapes to his arms and knees.
“I got checked out and that’s whenever they were like, ‘Yeah, you got a concussion,’” he said.
The family said they were also left with thousands of dollars in medical bills and did not have health insurance at the time.
Video also shows the officer taking Weber’s phone and asking for the passcode after Weber said he did not know his father’s phone number by memory.
Weber’s father, Nolan Weber, said the officer’s actions went too far.
“That’s unlawful search and seizure of someone’s private property,” Nolan Weber said.
He acknowledged his son was wrong to run the stop sign but said the response was excessive.
“I called a sergeant from the Seguin Police Department when I was in the hospital with him and he told me they pull over people on bicycles because people are pushing dope on bicycles. That’s profiling.” he said. “There’s a lot of other worse things going on Seguin than a teenage kid running a stop sign on a bicycle.”
The family said they have filed a formal complaint and plan to hire an attorney. Supporters are expected to raise concerns at a Seguin City Council meeting on April 7.
In a statement, the Seguin Police Department said the incident was reviewed by command staff at the time and defended its practices, including restricting phone use during lawful detentions. The department also cited safety concerns and state law requiring individuals to identify themselves during traffic stops.
However, the department did not answer questions about whether Officer Godinez followed department training or whether he remains employed.
Cory said he obtained the body camera footage weeks after the incident but waited months before making it public. After posting it to YouTube, he said the video quickly gained attention as other creators began sharing his story.
“Even if something doesn’t happen with it, at least people get to see what these cops did,” he said.
Attorney Joe Hoelscher, who reviewed the video for KENS, said officers can question minors in Texas but he believes the situation may have crossed a line. He called the use of force and the phone search “out of line” and said a reported concussion could increase potential legal concerns.
Nolan Weber said the family is not seeking retaliation but accountability.
“We don’t want any backlash against the police department or anything like that, we just want what’s right,” said Nolan. “They can beat the hell out of people and think they can get away with it and its time for it to stop happening…We all have jobs and if we mess up on our jobs, we have to be corrected.”
Since the incident, Cory Weber said he has not ridden his bike in Seguin.