Joseph Tucker Harris, an Arkansas officer, was dismissed after he was captured on video beating a handcuffed man, Billy Lee Coram, 42, in the backseat of a patrol car on August 8.
An examination of booking records indicates that Coram was processed into the Craighead County Jail on August 7 on felony escape charges that originated in a different county, according to Yahoo News. He informed the jail officials last Friday that he had ingested an unspecified quantity of fentanyl; thereafter, he was sent to the hospital. Coram, who is being detained on a $25,000 bail, was said to have left while there, which prompted authorities to seek for him. Eventually, Harris found Coram close by and was about to return him to custody when the unsightly occurrence happened.
According to the Jonesboro Police Department’s footage, the guy, who seems to be dressed in a medical gown, told the officers that he believes he would not survive if he is not brought back to a hospital after ingesting a bag of fentanyl the day before.
“They’re trying to send me back to the jail where they’re going to f**king let me die,” he declares, “I swear to God, on my daughter’s life I’ve got f**king fentanyl inside of me.”
The man seems to become frustrated as he tells the cops over and over again that he has fentanyl in him and he asks, “Are ya’ll trying to kill me?”
“No,” an officer can be heard replying.
At some point in the video, the man can be seen trying to strangle himself in the moving car by unbuckling his seatbelt and putting it around his neck.
The car stops, Harris unlocks the door, starts repeatedly hitting and elbowing the man in the head, takes off the seat belt from around his neck, and slams the door son his head.
The man was checked on and asked whether he is okay by another officer—whom the police have not named—but he was unresponsive following the attack.
After returning, Harris, the first cop, seems to give him a hard metal baton massage in the chest until he screamed in agony, at which point he shuts the door on his head again.
The man was seen lying down and still yelling and moaning in the rear seat as the car starts to move.
On August 9, the FBI’s Little Rock division sent the following statement to The National Desk:
“The FBI is aware of the incident, but per longstanding DOJ policy, we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.”
“I was just shocked and appalled by (Harris’) actions,” Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott told The Associated Press. “Wrong is wrong,” he said. “There’s not really anything to investigate.”
“Based on that conduct, I’m not going to have it and I’m not going to put up with it, and immediately terminate him,” he added.