A Houston cop beat an inmate as he was booking him into Houston City Jail. Surveillance cameras captured the beating but the officer received only a slap on the wrist.
Now the victim, who ended up with a permanent scar on his forehead, is suing the Houston Police Department.
Rueben Williams, who filed the lawsuit this week, was arrested on a DUI charge back on November 2014 by Officer S. Corral, who then beat him on his way to a holding cell.
Corral slammed Williams’ head into the cell door, causing a gash above his eye. He then shoved Williams against the wall applying a neck hold causing him to collapse onto the floor.
Besides the permanent scar, Williams says suffers from anxiety and depression because of the ordeal.
Surveillance footage captured the incident showing Williams writhing on the floor of the cell in his own blood. The video then shows another officer enter the cell to provide first aid to Williams as Corral watches.
Williams’ father, Reuben Williams Sr., has seen the video once and does not want to view the tape again.
“Members of the family in Austin have been calling me, (a) brother in California. Things have gotten out. This is absolutely disgusting, just the whole way it was handled. HPD never intended for this video to come out,” Williams Sr. said.
Williams’ attorney is calling for body camera footage as well as disciplinary actions to be taken against Officer Corral.
According to Williams’ attorney, Randall Kallinen, 250 shootings by the Houston Police Department are on record without any disciplinary actions.
The current mayor has the support of the department in his election very early but Kallinen wants the mayor to show people the body cam videos. “They need to release videos and they need to discipline their officers.”
Click 2 News reports that Corrall has only received counseling and additional training in connection with the incident.
