Dad arrested after taking daughter's cell phone as punishment

DALLAS -- A father in Texas couldn't believe it when there was a knock at his door at 2 a.m.

The police had arrived to arrest him for taking a cell phone away from his daughter.

Ronald Jackson says back in 2013, when his daughter was 12, he discovered a rude text message on her phone. So he took the phone away as a punishment.

KTVT reports Jackson's ex-wife is a Grand Prairie police officer. When she found out what had happened, the cops were called to get the phone back.

Police said Jackson was given the opportunity to hand over the phone but refused. He was given a citation.

Almost two years later, Jackson was charged with misdemeanor theft.

"Why would you need to go arrest somebody for something like that? Don't you have better things to do as a police officer? Aren't there bigger crimes in the city to go take care of?" Jackson told KTVT.

On Tuesday, a Dallas County judge ruled there was not enough evidence to prove there was a theft. He was found not guilty.

Jackson's ex-wife said the phone was not his property to take in the first place.