San Antonio Pol Leave Man Paralyzed for Taking Photos

A man who was attacked by three San Antonio police officers last year while taking photos of his wife’s business is now paralyzed from the neck down.

But San Antonio police have already wiped their hands of the matter, saying they had merely confused Roger Carlos with a violent felon whom they were chasing when they hopped out of a van and attacked him before realizing he was the wrong man.

The department’s chief [**told the media last year**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/01/texas-cops-suspended-name-beating-man-photographing-business/) that the three cops would be suspended for 15 unpaid days, before quietly reducing the punishment to five days before retiring immediately after.

The cops, Carlos Chavez, Virgilo Gonzalez and a third whose name they are still protecting, were allowed to use accrued leave time, so they didn’t miss receiving their regular income.

Chief William McManus also told the media that Carlos’ injuries were not that serious and he should understand that they were only trying to keep him safe but he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time when he was taking photos of his wife’s new business to capture that special moment.

But now it is being reported that Carlos is paralyzed from the June 2014 incident.

According to [**KENS 5:**](http://www.kens5.com/story/news/investigations/i-team/2015/11/20/man-beaten-sapd-officers-paralyzed-after-complications-surgery/76120736/)

> Roger Carlos, 43, was paralyzed during surgery November 3 at a San Antonio area hospital.
> Doctors have performed multiple surgeries on Carlos’s neck and upper spine to relieve pain and pressure from herniated discs, following his May 2014 beating at the hands of two SAPD SWAT officers and a drug task force officer.
> Carlos’s wife, Ronnie, told the I-Team Friday that a piece of bone broke off and compressed against his spinal cord during the Nov. 3 procedure.
> According to SAPD reports previously released to the I-Team, prior to the beating, the three officers were pursuing a suspect in the 10600 block of Westover Hills Boulevard. The suspect was wanted on drug and weapons charges.
> Instead they found Carlos, who has no criminal record and was using his phone to take pictures of his wife’s medical practice.
> Carlos said during an interview last year he was struck about 50 times, even though he complied with the officers’ instructions and did not fight back.
> Besides the neck injuries, Carlos suffered a broken tooth, a large gash above his eye and swelling of his skull. A recent CT scan also revealed a previously undiscovered brain aneurysm, according to Ronnie Carlos.

This is how [**we wrote it on PINAC**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2014/07/texas-cops-attack-man-photographing-building-claiming-man-fleeing/) when the news first surfaced.

> A San Antonio man taking photos of his wife’s soon-to-be medical practice was attacked by a plainclothes cop who roared up in a pickup and hopped out, ordering him to get down, striking him in the face with what appeared to be a handheld radio before he could even comply.
> Two uniformed SWAT team members quickly joined in, striking Roger Carlos in the head about 50 times with fists and elbows before handcuffing him. satisfied that they had their man.
> Except the real man were looking was someone else whom they had chased for miles down a freeway at 80 mph before he pulled into a parking lot, ditched his car and ran.
> When the dimwit cops pulled off the freeway and spotted Roger taking photos outside his building in broad daylight, they pounced on him, figuring a fleeing fugitive felon would stop and take photos of a random building during his getaway.
> It was only when a fourth cop pulled up and informed the three cops that they had already arrested their man down the street; a 27-year-old named Josue Rodriguez who was charged with illegal gun and drug possession, accused of driving around with a sawed-off shotgun and 20 grams of methamphetamine.
> So police went into immediate coverup mode, declaring that not only did Carlos fit Rodriguez’s description, which is questionable by the photos below, he resisted arrest – even if it was a blatantly unlawful arrest.

The description was a young, Hispanic man, which could be almost anybody in a city consisting of more than 63 percent Hispanics.

As you can see in the bottom two photos in this set, they didn’t beat Rodriguez nearly as hard as they beat Carlos. The family now says they are speaking to an attorney to file a lawsuit.

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/police-brutality/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/WcmpEKKJ6UO9LrQKh43bXw)

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/police-brutality/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/Wbgcl9HSdkyG2aIhkRojDw)

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/police-brutality/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/QwwbFSqi-061pPG_z-UfFw)

A man who was attacked by three San Antonio police officers last year while taking photos of his wife’s business is now paralyzed from the neck down.

But San Antonio police have already wiped their hands of the matter, saying they had merely confused Roger Carlos with a violent felon whom they were chasing when they hopped out of a van and attacked him before realizing he was the wrong man.

The department’s chief [**told the media last year**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/01/texas-cops-suspended-name-beating-man-photographing-business/) that the three cops would be suspended for 15 unpaid days, before quietly reducing the punishment to five days before retiring immediately after.

The cops, Carlos Chavez, Virgilo Gonzalez and a third whose name they are still protecting, were allowed to use accrued leave time, so they didn’t miss receiving their regular income.

Chief William McManus also told the media that Carlos’ injuries were not that serious and he should understand that they were only trying to keep him safe but he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time when he was taking photos of his wife’s new business to capture that special moment.

But now it is being reported that Carlos is paralyzed from the June 2014 incident.

According to [**KENS 5:**](http://www.kens5.com/story/news/investigations/i-team/2015/11/20/man-beaten-sapd-officers-paralyzed-after-complications-surgery/76120736/)

> Roger Carlos, 43, was paralyzed during surgery November 3 at a San Antonio area hospital.
> Doctors have performed multiple surgeries on Carlos’s neck and upper spine to relieve pain and pressure from herniated discs, following his May 2014 beating at the hands of two SAPD SWAT officers and a drug task force officer.
> Carlos’s wife, Ronnie, told the I-Team Friday that a piece of bone broke off and compressed against his spinal cord during the Nov. 3 procedure.
> According to SAPD reports previously released to the I-Team, prior to the beating, the three officers were pursuing a suspect in the 10600 block of Westover Hills Boulevard. The suspect was wanted on drug and weapons charges.
> Instead they found Carlos, who has no criminal record and was using his phone to take pictures of his wife’s medical practice.
> Carlos said during an interview last year he was struck about 50 times, even though he complied with the officers’ instructions and did not fight back.
> Besides the neck injuries, Carlos suffered a broken tooth, a large gash above his eye and swelling of his skull. A recent CT scan also revealed a previously undiscovered brain aneurysm, according to Ronnie Carlos.

This is how [**we wrote it on PINAC**](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2014/07/texas-cops-attack-man-photographing-building-claiming-man-fleeing/) when the news first surfaced.

> A San Antonio man taking photos of his wife’s soon-to-be medical practice was attacked by a plainclothes cop who roared up in a pickup and hopped out, ordering him to get down, striking him in the face with what appeared to be a handheld radio before he could even comply.
> Two uniformed SWAT team members quickly joined in, striking Roger Carlos in the head about 50 times with fists and elbows before handcuffing him. satisfied that they had their man.
> Except the real man were looking was someone else whom they had chased for miles down a freeway at 80 mph before he pulled into a parking lot, ditched his car and ran.
> When the dimwit cops pulled off the freeway and spotted Roger taking photos outside his building in broad daylight, they pounced on him, figuring a fleeing fugitive felon would stop and take photos of a random building during his getaway.
> It was only when a fourth cop pulled up and informed the three cops that they had already arrested their man down the street; a 27-year-old named Josue Rodriguez who was charged with illegal gun and drug possession, accused of driving around with a sawed-off shotgun and 20 grams of methamphetamine.
> So police went into immediate coverup mode, declaring that not only did Carlos fit Rodriguez’s description, which is questionable by the photos below, he resisted arrest – even if it was a blatantly unlawful arrest.

The description was a young, Hispanic man, which could be almost anybody in a city consisting of more than 63 percent Hispanics.

As you can see in the bottom two photos in this set, they didn’t beat Rodriguez nearly as hard as they beat Carlos. The family now says they are speaking to an attorney to file a lawsuit.

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/police-brutality/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/WcmpEKKJ6UO9LrQKh43bXw)

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/police-brutality/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/Wbgcl9HSdkyG2aIhkRojDw)

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/police-brutality/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/QwwbFSqi-061pPG_z-UfFw)

Support our Mission

Help us build a database of bad cops

For almost 15 years, PINAC News has remained active despite continuous efforts by the government and Big Tech to shut us down by either arresting us for lawful activity or by restricting access to our readers under the pretense that we write about “social issues.”

Since we are forbidden from discussing social issues on social media, we have created forums on our site to allow us to fulfill our mission with as little restriction as possible. We welcome our readers to join our forums and support our mission by either donating, volunteering or both.

Our plan is to build a national database of bad cops obtained from public records maintained by local prosecutors. The goal is to teach our readers how to obtain these lists to ensure we cover every city, county and state in the country.

After all, the government has made it clear it will not police the police so the role falls upon us.

It will be our most ambitious project yet but it can only be done with your help.

But if we succeed, we will be able to keep innocent people out of prison.

Please make a donation below or click on side tab to learn more about our mission.

Subscribe to PINAC

Bypass Big Tech censorship.

Carlos Miller
Carlos Millerhttps://pinacnews.com
Editor-in-Chief Carlos Miller spent a decade covering the cop beat for various newspapers in the Southwest before returning to his hometown Miami and launching Photography is Not a Crime aka PINAC News in 2007. He also published a book, The Citizen Journalist's Photography Handbook, which is available on Amazon.

Leave a Reply

- Advertisement -

Latest articles