this is "nightline." >> tonight, the startling new developments in the traffic stop tragedy. >> step out of the car. >> police re-releasing the dash cam video of sandra bland's arrest. and her own admission she'd attempted suicide in the past. tonight, hear her plea for help. the phone call she's said to have made from jail before she was found dead. the bull-riding pastor. what brings them together? jesus, they say. tonight, how one family's wild show is steering believers by the thousands to their highly unusual, entertaining -- >> jesus is a big dude! >> and controversial church. and anthony geary says good-bye after 37 years as luke

spencer on "general hospital." >> i'm going to have to find out where i'm going on my own. >> opening up about playing the anti-hero, romancing his best friend, and what comes next for one of the most famous leading men in soap opera history. but first the "nightline 5." >> when salonpas began a single patch created the category of pain relief. 80 years later salon pas has evolved into a family of pain relievers perfect for back, muscle or joint pain. salonpas for targeted relief. macy's semi-annual clearance sale. save 50% to 85% store wide. get an extra 20% off with your macy's card or wild savings pass. text tv 62297 to get your wild pass sent directly to your phone. >> number one in just 60 seconds.

good evening. thanks for joining us. hoy how did a minor traffic violation end with death in a texas jail cell? tonight, fresh controversy as newly released dash cam footage shows intense interaction between sandra bland and a police officer quickly spiraling out of control. her loved ones sharing their anguish for the first time arguing that the arresting officer overstepped his bounds. here's abc's ryan smith. >> reporter: it was an ordinary traffic stop that escalated into this. >> get out of the car! i will light you up. get out! >> wow. >> now! >> reporter: the trooper arrests 28-year-old sandra bland. three days later, she's found hanging in her jail cell, a garbage bag around her neck. the ultimate question, how did someone involved in a minor traffic stop end up dead in a jail cell? the mystery began late friday

afternoon. sandra bland is pulled over by state trooper brian encinia. everything seems routine. >> hello, ma'am. the reason for the stop is you failed to signal your lane change. do you have your driver's license and insurance? >> reporter: a few minutes later the situation grows tense. >> you seem very irritated. >> i am. i really am. for what i'm getting a ticket for. i was getting out of your way. you were speeding up, tailing me, so i moved over and you stopped me. so yeah, i am a little irritated but that doesn't stop you from giving me a ticket. >> jimmy: then encinia asks bland to put out her cigarette. >> you mind putting out your cigarette, please? >> i'm in my car, why do i have to put out my cigarette? >> you can step on out now. >> i don't have to step out of my car. >> step out of the car. >> why am i -- >> step out of the car. >> no, you don't have the right -- >> step out of the car. >> you do not have the right to do that. >> i do have the right. now step out or i will remove you. >> i refuse -- >> reporter: he reaches for bland in the car. when she doesn't step out -- >> get out of the car!

>> then you going to stun me? >> i will light you up, get out now! >> wow. >> now! >> reporter: she gets out of the car, arguing about his tactics. all the while trying to catch her interaction with the officer on her cell phone. >> put your phone down! >> reporter: off-camera the officer is heard yelling at bland to cooperate. >> put your phone down! >> reporter: she is still cursing and screaming. when he forcibly restrains her. >> you're about to break my wrist, can't you stop? you are [ bleep ] break my wrist, stop! >> reporter: a female officer was on the scene also restrains bland. >> stop resisting, ma'am. >> that make you feel real good, you're a real man now you slammed me knocked my head in the ground i got epilepsy you [ bleep ] -- >> good, good. >> you should have thought about that before you started resisting. >> reporter: a bystander captures her being pinned to the ground. >> send me a first available for arrest. >> reporter: bland is arrested for assaulting a public servant and taken to county jail.

this incident has reignited a national controversy. >> a minor traffic infraction should not turn into death! >> reporter: tensions high after a slew of recent cases involving accusations of police using excessive force on african-americans. >> there have been enough situations that we've seen in media now that would give us pause when interacting with police officers because there is potential in which things go horribly wrong, and yes, we could be killed. >> reporter: at issue was sandra bland out of line? or did officer encinia go too far? >> sandra bland was very combative. it was not a model traffic stop. and it was not a model person that was stopped on a traffic stop. >> reporter: in an arrest affidavit the officer says bland became combative and uncooperative and that force was used to subdue bland to the ground which bland continued to fight back. adding, bland began swinging her elbows at me then kicked my

right leg in the shin. the bland family's lawyer disputing the officer's account. >> this happened because an officer was overzealous. this happened because an officer decided that he wished to overstep his authority. >> reporter: the day after her arrest, this voice mail believed to be bland calling a friend from jail distraught. >> i'm -- i'm still just at a loss for words, honestly, about the process. how this switching lanes with no signal turned into all this, i don't even know. >> reporter: but just two days later, sandra bland is found dead. the waller county sheriff's office reporting she was found in her cell not breathing. the medical examination calling her death a suicide by hanging. >> attempts were made to resuscitate her, which were unsuccessful. >> reporter: her family doesn't buy this account, commissioning an independent autopsy. >> sandy was a social activist. social activists don't take their own life. particularly in jail.

>> my goal is to racially unite. >> reporter: sandra bland was a social media activist. >> black lives matter. >> reporter: regularly posting videos about race and injustice. family and friends say she had just moved to texas, accepting a new job at her alma mater, prairie view a&m university. >> what raises questions is why it is that a 28-year-old woman who had received two job offers would take her own life. >> reporter: but this video that bland posted to youtube just months ago shows a different side. >> i am suffering from something that some of you all may be dealing with right now. it's a little bit of depression as well as ptsd. >> we take issue with the notion that she was suffering from depression. she was never clinically diagnosed as this family understands. >> reporter: on an intake form it is noted that sandra said she had attempted suicide within the last year, using pills. but when asked if she was feeling suicidal today, sandra responded no, leading to new questions about whether she was

watched closely enough. tonight, many are blaming the officer. including her family. saying sandra bland should never have been arrested in the first place. >> she was pulled over for something so insignificant, and because of an officer who felt like maybe his ego was bruised -- >> reporter: former nypd detective nick casol said though bland was arguing with the officer, reaching into the car went too far. >> he's crossed the rubicon. now he's taken this as a personal issue. now who's going to win? this is just deteriorating. it's as we say in brooklyn, it's only going to get worser. >> this didn't need to happen. she didn't need to get in an argument with the police officer, and the officer didn't need to yank her out of that car. >> stand right there! >> don't touch me! >> this is a valuable lesson on the importance of having cameras in police cars. without that camera there, i'm certain we would have heard much more conflicting stories about

what happened. >> reporter: the texas rangers, along with the fbi, are investigating the circumstances leading up to sandra's death. trooper encinia has been assigned to administrative duties for violations of department procedures regarding traffic stops. >> i don't think he's going to face any criminal charges. >> reporter: sandra's life is over. her dreams, her future, gone in a jail cell. >> she's gone from us. but the conversation should not die with her. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm ryan smith in new york. >> our thanks to ryan smith. of course abc news will continue to track all the developments on this story. up next bull riding rock music, even light shows. this pastor will do almost anything to get people in the door. plus, why actor anthony geary is bidding farewell to "general hospital" after almost four decades. i sure had a lot on my mind when i got out of the hospital after a dvt blood clot. what about my family?

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organized religion may be on the decline here in america, but you're about to meet someone who's going the extra mile to

fill the pews. they call him the cowboy pastor. he delivers sermons on horseback, even rides a bull in church. so as you can imagine, his antics are stirring up controversy. abc's david wright brings us another look for our series "faith matters." >> but the bible says that we have an adversary called the devil. >> reporter: speak of the devil and his horns appear, real horns inside a real church. this is bonecrusher. that's preacher lawrence bishop preparing to dig in his spurs. a leap of faith, or folly? riding this bull for jesus. >> i don't have very many talents other than riding stuff that bucks or playing music. i've used them both to spread the gospel. and try to bring people to jesus. >> reporter: he and his wife have two sons. bishop is the pastor of solid rock church in monroe, ohio. the one with the 52-foot statue

of jesus. >> a whole barnful of bulls? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: welcoming new believers is what the bull riding thing's all about. >> a gimmick to get people through the door? >> the bible said, compel them to come in. so that's what we're doing. didn't say how to compel them. >> reporter: the battle to win souls is fiercely competitive. a recent pew survey found that 23% of the population is unaffiliated with any organized faith. ♪ jesus ♪ >> reporter: solid rock is not your typical church. >> solid rock is fun. we call our church an extreme church because we don't do anything just normal. >> reporter: that's darlene bishop, the pastor's mom. she and her husband lawrence sr. founded solid rock 40 years ago. the bishops started off in the horse business. the lb ranch, one of the nation's foremost breeders of american quarter horses. the church came later. she lives in the lavish ranch house she built with her husband overlooking the horse farm. >> help yourself.

can i get anybody anything? >> reporter: now christians in every way. >> lord, thank you for this food, thank you for this day, help souls to be saved and keep everyone safe, especially me, in jesus' name we pray, amen. >> my husband used to say, the seven last words of a dying church is "never seen it done this way before." >> when your son said he's going to actually build the ring in the church, what'd you think? >> i thought he was crazy. >> reporter: crazy seems to be a daily occurrence here. for instance, cameras were rolling as one of the horses wound up in the swimming pool. >> come on, get me a knife! >> reporter: he was trying to walk across the cover when the cover gave way. hopelessly tangled, the horse at risk of drowning. >> swim! >> reporter: pastor bishop appears to walk on water like the savior himself. >> you baptized your horse. >> baptized the horse i sold to another preacher. i told him, you don't have to baptize the horse, it's already been baptized.

>> i'm the preacher's wife. >> reporter: she's also an artist who launched a business designing ultra-modern pulpits, light displays and crosses. she welds them herself. >> this family seems like it could be a good reality show. >> after the horse fell in the pool yesterday? i would have to agree with you. >> reporter: the church is not without controversy. for instance, there's a bizarre urban legend that persists in these parts that lawrence bishop senior first made his fortune smuggling cocaine in the quarter horses and that the giant jesus statue is packed with white powder. >> any truth there? >> zero. my dad, he did two things in his life. work, and church. that was it. >> that big statue of jesus is not full of cocaine? >> if it is, we have the dumbest police department in history. >> reporter: the congregation is 3,000 strong. one of the most racially mixed churches you'll ever see. >> half the crowd is black. everyone's welcome. well, not everyone. the church is very outspoken on the issue of same-sex marriage.

>> we love homosexuals. i had an uncle that was homosexual that died of aids. deeply loved him. but we do not agree with homosexuality because the bible is against it. and we have to -- >> the bible is against eating shellfish. >> no, you're talking about in the old law. >> i don't remember jesus talking anywhere in the gospels about homosexuality. >> it's in romans, leviticus, and jesus mentioned marriage in the bible. it was always a man and a woman. >> reporter: the ministry constantly coming up with creative ways to connect. >> the bible says he that winneth souls is wise. so these bulls are going to attract people that otherwise would never set foot in a churchhouse. >> reporter: this isn't bishop's first rodeo. before he took over his dad's church, he was a professional bull rider. but that was years ago. >> what are you most worried about? >> pulling a groin muscle. my 48-year-old body is not like my 28-year-old body. >> reporter: when it comes time

for the big event, the church is packed. a lot of new faces here. >> ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause -- >> reporter: finally, the moment of truth. pastor lawrence has got to hang on for eight seconds. >> let's go bull ride! ♪ >> reporter: he lasts about three. everyone in the house is saying their prayers at this point. finally, battered and bruised, the cowboy preacher climbs back up to safety. want to see it again? ♪ >> reporter: and in a truly impressive example of grace under pressure, he manages to give his sermon. >> repent and be baptized! do you want to know jesus? >> reporter: when it comes time

for the altar call, the response is huge. 300 or so new believers ready to be baptized. >> surrender to jesus! >> what happened at the altar is worth it, i'll do it again. >> reporter: an unconventional approach fraught with danger. but at the solid rock church, seems to be reaping results. i'm david wright for "nightline" in monroe, ohio. up next, "general hospital's" anthony geary on his 37-year evolution as luke spencer, from dark and dangerous to dreamy. severe crohn's disease is tough but i've managed. except that managing my symptoms was all i was doing. and when i finally told my doctor, he said humira is for adults like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. and that in clinical studies the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. and many achieved remission.

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when you spend 37 years playing the same character on one of television's most beloved soap operas, stepping off the set is bound to stir up soap opera-level emotions. tonight, actor anthony geary, also known as "general hospital's" luke spencer, tells aditi roy about the show that won him eight emmy awards and legions of fans. >> reporter: that's a wrap for one of soap opera's most famous leading men. after 37 years on set, actor anthony geary is leaving "general hospital." >> i'm going to have to find out where i'm going on my own. >> reporter: and leaving behind luke spencer. >> he was not created to be a heroic character. he was created to be an anti-hero. >> i killed my father! >> reporter: the brash and sassy luke -- >> good morning, beautiful! >> reporter: winning geary a record eight daytime emmy awards. >> luke?

i love you. >> reporter: perhaps most well known for being one half of the season super couple luke and laura. >> what was special about luke and laura? >> the relationship between luke and laura was always very real. >> reporter: their lavish on-screen wedding in 1981, 30 million people tuning in. the highest audience in daytime television history. but their epic romance begins in a disturbing place when a young luke sexually assaults laura. >> do you think that would fly today? >> not the way it was initially sold. i don't think so. >> why did their relationship end? >> if you look at the way it started it was fated to end badly in itself. you can't just have them go off into the sunset together. >> reporter: now just in time to see him off, jeannie francis returning to the series as laura. >> i don't regret our life together. not for an instant. >> reporter: geary's current

on-screen love interest is tracy quartermain played by jane elliot. >> i was the lucky one. >> tracy can't see her life without him, jane can't see her life without him. >> reporter: geary is looking to his next chapter, moving to amsterdam full-time. life without luke perhaps his greatest challenge yet. >> act 3, curtain up, and i'm there, center stage. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm aditi roy in los angeles. >> and here's to the next act. thanks for watching abc news. tune in to "good morning america" tomorrow. as always we're online 24/7 at our "nightline" facebook page and at abcnews.com.

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