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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Two Houston police officers have been found liable for using excessive force during a 2017 arrest and have been ordered to pay thousands of dollars.
A federal judge ruled former HPD officer Jacob Simmerman and Christopher Heaven, who’s a current HPD officer, liable for excessive force and assault.
This stems from a controversial traffic stop in March 2017 in which Jose Gomez, now 44, was arrested for a violation.
Simmerman and Heaven have been order to pay more than $550,000.
Body camera video provided by Gomez’s attorney shows Gomez being pulled over as an officer stands next to his car window.
In the video, one of officers said, “You said you don’t have your wallet. Get out, turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
The video is dark, and it’s hard to tell what happens next. Then, you see Gomez in handcuffs and hear an officer shouting, “Stop resisting!” Gomez responds in the video saying, “I didn’t do nothing.”
Gomez was arrested for resisting arrest, but the charge was later dropped.
“I asked to myself, ‘How come they don’t listen to what I say?’ Like, don’t break my arm,” Gomez said shortly after the video was released. “I’ve got to work tomorrow. That is my wallet. Why they do that to me? They don’t listen. They just take me to jail. From the jail, they take me to the hospital.”
According to Gomez’s attorney, he suffered torn ligaments, injured discs in his back, bruises on his face and an injured elbow.
Both officers were cleared by an HPD internal investigation.
“[Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner] and [HPD Chief Troy Finner] need to put a stop to this rampart excessive use of force in the Houston Police Department and the internal affair’s stamp of approval,” said civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen. “There have been over 100 shootings of civilians caught on body worn cameras which the city has refused to release for public review. Houston needs a neutral third party to review these shootings and excessive use of force.”
The Houston Police Department has not issued a response.