LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (WFCN) –
Video footage showing an Arkansas police officer brutally assaulting a handcuffed prisoner in the trunk of his patrol vehicle led to the officer’s termination, and the chief of police has stated his intention to transfer the matter to prosecutors.
On Friday, Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott terminated Officer Joseph Harris’s employment. The incident occurred one day after Harris was captured on surveillance footage assaulting an inmate being returned from a local hospital to the county jail. The footage showed Harris striking, elbowing, and slamming the car door.
The county sheriff’s office filed a report regarding the event, and Elliott watched the footage afterwards. The department also made the officer’s dismissal public by posting the footage to its YouTube channel.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Monday, Elliott expressed his amazement and horror at Harris’s behavior. I fired him right away since his behavior made it clear that I would not tolerate it.
Harris, who had been with the agency for five years, did not have a published phone number.
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The 12-minute video shows Billy Lee Coram, an inmate riding shotgun in the back of the patrol car, choking on his own neck strap as the vehicle is in motion. He is dressed in a hospital gown. Harris unlocks the door as Coram unwinds the belt and unleashes a barrage of punches and elbows when the car comes to a stop.
Subsequently, Harris bangs Coram’s head with the car door. According to Elliott, he is unaware of the extent of Coram’s injuries incurred during the assault. On Monday, the Craighead County jail housed Coram, who was wanted on warrants from out of state and was facing escape charges.
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Following Coram’s confession to the jail personnel about consuming fentanyl and subsequently escaping from the hospital, he was sent to the facility. After apprehending Coram, Harris placed him in his patrol vehicle.
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On Monday afternoon, no one from the jail returned a message, and neither Coram’s court date nor his counsel were found on the records.
In the next days, Elliott will prepare the necessary papers to submit to the local prosecutor, who he will refer the matter to, according to Elliott. Calls to the county prosecutor on Monday went unanswered for some time.
According to Elliott, he has already notified the FBI’s Little Rock office of the event and plans to request that the state revoke Harris’s police certification.
In addition to being named as a defendant in a wrongful death claim filed in June concerning the death of an inmate in the Craighead County jail this year, Harris was suspended two years prior for the use of excessive force.