A Texas sheriff’s deputy has been indicted by a grand jury for slapping a 61-year-old man who had attempted to slap him first.
The only problem is, Harris County sheriff’s deputy Ellison Collins told the man to slap him, acting as if he would not arrest him.
And the man was naive enough to believe him.
“I am giving you permission to slap the (s- – – -) out of me, and get it off your chest,” the deputy says after the man asked if he would be arrested.
When Jerry Alan Vaco raised his hand and moved it close to the deputy’s face, Collins slapped him so hard he fell down. Collins then handcuffed him.
“That was stupid,” Collins tells the man as he leads him away in handcuffs.
The incident took place in September 2018 in front of an IHOP restaurant after Collins encountered Vaco in the parking lot. It is not clear at this time why Collins confronted Vaco in the first place but it took more than a year to complete the investigation on Collins.
The video shows Vaco may not have even touched the deputy after he slowly lifted his hand towards Collins’ face.
Court records show Vaco was charged with interference but the case was dismissed. He has a history of trespassing arrests so perhaps that had something to do the deputies confronting him in the first place.
The deputy, who has been on “non-law enforcement administrative duty” since the incident, is facing up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Collins’ bodycam was turned off during the incident but another deputy had his turned on which is what led to the charge against the deputy.
