Ex-cop exposed himself to 2 women who were ‘scared to not comply,’ Tarrant warrant says

A former Tarrant County deputy constable who was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault exposed himself to two women who were “scared to argue or not comply” with him after a night of partying, one of the women told authorities.

The women were afraid to report the February incident because the former constable, Oluwafemi “Femi” Awe, told them he was a cop, according to a search warrant obtained by Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV.

Awe’s attorney, Tiffany Burks, said in a statement this week, “Not everything salacious is criminal. We welcome the opportunity to defend the accusations against Femi.”

The search warrant dated March 7 was sought by a Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office detective in order to collect samples of Awe’s DNA.

According to a 20-year-old woman’s statement, she and her 19-year-old girlfriend met Awe, 31, the night of Feb. 24 at Koe Wetzel’s Riot Room, Detective Kelly Holland wrote in an affidavit supporting the search warrant. Koe Wetzel’s Riot Room is a bar and grill on Foch Street in the West 7th entertainment district.

After the bar closed at 2 a.m. on Feb. 25, the two women, Awe and a group of other people they had been hanging out with went to several friends’ apartments, where they drank and used cocaine, according to the affidavit.

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At one apartment complex, the 20-year-old woman stopped by a friend’s place to get her handgun, which she typically keeps in her truck for personal safety, she said. Awe saw the gun and said, “Oh, you’re packing,” according to the woman, who said she ignored the comment and put the gun in her truck’s center console.

About 9:30 a.m., the women and Awe were driving separately to another acquaintance’s apartment but that person turned them away when they arrived, the affidavit states. The 20-year-old woman said that after she and her girlfriend drove away, Awe texted her and said he could rent a hotel room but instead directed them to a Walmart parking lot.

When the woman pulled into the parking lot, Awe got into the back seat of her vehicle, she told the detective.

The three continued using cocaine in the truck, and Awe took off his shirt, saying he was hot, according to the affidavit. The woman said Awe removing his shirt “weirded her out,” and she moved her gun from the console to her driver’s side door pocket because she was worried about what else was going to happen.

At that point, Awe, who previously had seemed nice, became “intimidating and stern” and ordered the woman and her girlfriend into the back seat with him, she told the detective. When she asked Awe why he had taken off his shirt, he removed the rest of his clothes, the affidavit states.

Awe placed the 19-year-old woman’s hand on him, and she “appeared terrified” and would not speak to her girlfriend when she asked if she was OK, the 20-year-old told the detective. Awe ordered the women to “start making out with one another,” during which he groped the 19-year-old, the affidavit states.

The 20-year-old told the detective she was scared for her and her girlfriend’s safety. Before Awe got into his vehicle and left, he said, “If you ever tell anybody, I know you have coke and a gun in the car. I’m a cop,” the affidavit states.

Awe was arrested March 8 and released on $5,000 bond, according to court records.

The sheriff’s office said it is investigating the possibility he might have used his position as a deputy constable to assault other women.

According to county records obtained by the Star-Telegram, Awe worked as a chief deputy in Constable Precinct 7 in Mansfield from November 2023 until March 5, three days before his arrest. The records show he previously worked as a deputy constable in Precinct 5 from September 2022 until January 2023 and from June 2020 to January 2021, and in Precinct 2 from July 2019 to June 2020.

Awe also has worked for the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, as a detention officer from October 2016 to January 2018 and as a deputy assigned to the courts from January to October in 2021, the records show. A sheriff’s office spokesperson said he could not comment on whether the investigation will include any possible misconduct during the time Awe worked there.

Law enforcement databases reviewed by investigators for the search warrant also showed Awe’s employment by the sheriff’s and constables’ offices and three months of employment with the Godley Police Department, the warrant states. He was issued a peace officer’s license in 2018.

Indecent assault is a class A misdemeanor in most cases. Texas law defines the offense as, without consent and with the intent to “gratify sexual desire,” touching, exposing or attempting to expose another person’s private body parts; touching the victim with one of those body parts; or causing the victim to make contact with someone else’s bodily fluids.

The sheriff’s office asked anyone with information to contact Detective Holland by phone at 817-884-2233 or email at KKHolland@tarrantcountytx.gov or Lt. Morris at 817-884-3306 or CEMorris@tarrantcountytx.gov.

Staff writers Nicole Lopez and James Hartley contributed to this report.

Victims of sexual assault can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline for confidential support at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or chat at online.rainn.org.