LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas police officer has been fired after he was caught on video beating a handcuffed inmate at the back of his patrol automotive, and the police chief says he’ll refer the case to prosecutors.
Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott fired Officer Joseph Harris on Friday, the day after Harris was caught on his patrol automotive video punching, elbowing and slamming the automotive door on an inmate being transferred from an area hospital again to the county jail.
Elliott reviewed the video after receiving a grievance from the county sheriff’s workplace concerning the incident. The division additionally posted the video on its YouTube web page and introduced the officer’s firing.
“I used to be simply shocked and appalled by (Harris’) actions,” Elliott informed The Related Press on Monday. “Primarily based on that conduct, I’m not going to have it and I’m not going put up with it, and instantly terminated him.”
A cellphone quantity was not listed for Harris, who had labored for the division for the previous 5 years.
Billy Lee Coram, the inmate at the back of the patrol automotive, is carrying a hospital robe and choking himself with a seatbelt wrapped his neck because the automotive is transferring within the roughly 12-minute video. After the automotive pulls over, Harris opens the door and punches and elbows Coram a number of instances within the face as he unwinds the belt.
Harris later slams the automotive door in opposition to Coram’s head. Elliott stated he didn’t know what accidents Coram sustained from the beating. Coram was being held on the Craighead County jail Monday on escape fees and was needed on warrants from out of state.
Coram had been taken to the hospital after he informed jail workers he had ingested fentanyl and had escaped the hospital. Harris had caught Coram and put him in his patrol automotive.
The jail didn’t return a message Monday afternoon, and no court docket date or legal professional was listed for Coram.
Elliott stated he can be referring the case to the native prosecutor and was placing collectively paperwork within the coming days to ship to the prosecutor. The county prosecutor didn’t instantly return a name Monday.
Elliott additionally stated he had contacted the FBI’s Little Rock workplace concerning the incident and can ask the state to decertify Harris as a police officer.
“Fallacious is improper. There’s not likely something to analyze,” he stated.
Harris had been suspended two years in the past for utilizing extreme drive and can also be a defendant in a wrongful demise lawsuit filed in June over an inmate who died within the Craighead County jail this 12 months.
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