A Taylor County grand jury in Texas indicted former Wichita Falls police officer Daniel Wilson earlier this year, according to Atlanta Black Star. Community advocate Crystal Washington said the indictment included two counts of official oppression. Wilson had already been fired in November.
The case centers on Victoria Lang, a 19-year-old sophomore at Midwestern State University. Lang, who is autistic, had arrived on campus that morning. Her dorm room wasn’t ready yet, so she stopped at a nearby McDonald’s to freshen up.
She spent close to two hours in the restroom. A worker told police she wanted Lang gone. The employee hesitated, though, when asked about trespassing her from the building.
How a trip to McDonald’s turned into an arrest
Officer Daniel Wilson found Lang fixing her hair under a bonnet in the mirror. He asked for her name several times. Lang stayed quiet. She then said she had no ID and wouldn’t give her birthdate either. Wilson warned her she’d go to jail if she kept refusing.
NEW: Former Wichita Falls officer Daniel Wilson indicted for excessive force after bodycam shows him dragging autistic college student Victoria Lang by ankles across McDonald’s parking lot
— The Facts Dude 🤙🏽 (@Thefactsdude) May 14, 2026
A Texas grand jury has indicted former Wichita Falls Police Officer Daniel Wilson on two… pic.twitter.com/omqVFrZXWM
Lang held out her wrists and told him, “Let’s take it there.” He cuffed her immediately, and she sat down on the floor, refusing to stand.
Footage shared on X shows the encounter becoming more physical from there. Wilson and Gulley carry Lang out of the restaurant while she is handcuffed, each holding one of her arms or legs.
Once outside, Lang protests as the officers keep her on the ground, telling them that what they are doing is illegal and accusing Wilson of choking her. The footage then shows Wilson dragging her by the ankles across the parking lot toward the police vehicle before officers place her inside.
Wilson and officer Douglas Gulley carried her face down through the restaurant, holding her cuffed arms and legs. Neither officer gave her a verbal command first, a department review later found.
They put her on her stomach near the entrance. “I didn’t do nothing,” Lang said. Wilson then pressed his hand against her neck, pinning her face to the concrete. “My neck … This is illegal … You’re literally trying to choke me,” she said.
He then dragged her by the ankles across the parking lot. Wilson twisted her legs into a “figure-four hold” before placing her in the back seat. They placed her in the back seat.
Lang was booked on charges of resisting arrest and interfering with public duties. Bonds totaling $5,000 got her released the next day. Court records show the interference charge has since been dropped. Gulley resigned around the same time, and both men then came under investigation from the Texas Rangers.
Wilson’s disciplinary file showed a longer pattern of trouble. He was suspended in May 2025 after admitting he fired a weapon toward another officer during training. A 2024 investigation examined his relationship with a confidential informant. Departments elsewhere have paid for similar misconduct too, including a Phoenix settlement after officers wrongly detained a journalist.
Then-Chief Manuel Borrego called the video “shocking” in January. He resigned that February amid mounting community pressure.
The department’s own review found Wilson used “inappropriate force, carry methods, and body positioning.” It also noted Lang wasn’t combative, contradicting Wilson’s radio report. The department has since promised new crisis training. Advocates for autistic people warn these encounters can turn deadly. One Ohio case saw a suicidal, autistic man call for help, and the police shot him instead.
Washington, who has represented Lang since the arrest, said the indictment marks “a step towards accountability.” She added that “conduct this abhorrent by a peace officer should never occur in any community.”
The case has since moved into the pretrial stage, with AOL reporting that Wilson appeared in the 78th District Court on Aug. 21. The parties agreed to set his trial for Dec. 7, 2026, with retired Judge Bob Brotherton presiding over the case. Wilson remains charged with two counts of official oppression stemming from Lang’s arrest.
Mayor Tim Short called it a moment for reflection. “Today shows the legal system doing what is was designed to do,” he said. For Wichita Falls, the harder work of rebuilding trust with residents is only beginning.
