Pubdate: 2 Dec 1998 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Contact: http://www.chron.com/ Copyright: 1998 Houston Chronicle Author: Steve Brewer HPD OFFICER SAYS DRUG DEALER STARTED GUNFIGHT A drug dealer started a gunfight with two Houston police officers in February because one of them wouldn't put a piece of crack cocaine in his mouth during an undercover buy that turned sour, one of the officers testified Tuesday. Officer Ralph Chaison testified that Robert Demond Lavern ordered him to put the crack in his mouth to prove he wasn't a police officer. When he didn't comply, the defendant reached for a pistol in his waistband. "He said, `If you're not the police, put it in your mouth,' " Chaison told jurors in the first day of Lavern's attempted capital murder trial. "His last statement was, `You're the law and I'm not afraid of the law.' .. Then he started raising his jacket." Chaison and his partner, Officer Vonda Higgins, were working undercover on Feb 4., according to testimony. Chaison had just bought the rock of crack for $20 from Lavern outside a West Branch apartment complex. He was walking away when Lavern made the demand. Higgins was in a nearby truck and the officers had no back-up because they were only supposed to make the buys and leave, not make arrests. Chaison drew his gun first, fired and hit Lavern, according to testimony. Chaison yelled for Higgins to call for help and scrambled for cover behind a "small" tree. Lavern sought cover behind a car. With an iron fence separating them, Chaison and Lavern exchanged shots, the officer said. Prosecutor Chuck Rosenthal told jurors in his opening statement that it was at that point that Higgins bravely tried to draw fire away from her partner. In doing so, she was struck in the neck by one of Lavern's shots and the bullet lodged near her spine. Higgins has been paralyzed since then. Higginsis expected to testify today. Defense attorney Jeffrey Hale told jurors that they should view her testimony without emotion and not be swayed by sympathy for her condition. - --- Checked-by: Mike Gogulski