Three Houston police officers caused an international incident last weekend when they followed a Chinese diplomat into a parking garage at the Chinese Consulate and arrested him Saturday, May 1, injuring him in the process, the authorities said.
Mayor Annise Parker said that the officers had been restricted to desk duty while the police and the State Department investigated the arrest. The officers have said they were unaware the building the diplomat had entered was a consulate and off limits to them.
The diplomat, Yu Boren, the deputy consul general, was treated at a hospital for minor injuries to his neck and head. His wife, who was riding with him and also has a position at the consulate, was not injured.
In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry lodged a formal complaint with the United States over the arrest of Mr. Yu, noting that the police had violated international treaties by following Mr. Yu onto the consulates grounds.
The United States responded with a promise to investigate the episode quickly and fully.
The police department declined to release any details about the arrest of Mr. Yu. The mayors office identified the officers as Timothy J. Riley II, Quang Tran and Victor Olivares. (Source: James C. McKinley, Jr., New York Times, May 1, 2010).