Warning: Disturbing Video Houston Police Department Did Not Want Released of Teen Being Repeatedly Kicked & Punched by Officers in High-Profile Case Last Year

Houston, Texas

For more than nine months, we've been following the story of Chad Holley, a teen who said he was beaten by police officers during an arrest.

Every patrol cop in this story has been told the video is out. The mayor wouldn't let you see it -- or the district attorney or the police chief.

We've all been told it's graphic and disturbing, and we remind you it is, as we show the video so many Houstonians have wanted to see.

It was an afternoon in March when a security camera captures the end of a Houston police pursuit. Burglar Chad Holley tries to make a run for it, but he's clipped by a police car and falls on the ground. He clearly puts his arms out in the surrender pose then folds his arms before police move in.

The first officer stomps on Holley's head and he's repeatedly kicked. We counted four officers doing the kicking.

Then one officer lands five kicks. It looks like the kicks are landing on Holley's head.

Holley has been on the ground with cops on top of him for about 20 seconds and then one officer lands five heavy punches.

The officer who did the kicking in the beginning does it again -- this time from behind. Then he stomps on the back of his leg.

And then just before Holley is picked up to be taken to a patrol car, there's another lick. 

But now we make this video public -- months after the district attorney, the police chief and the mayor refused to let you see it.

Four Houston police officers were indicted for what is seen on the video but on misdemeanor charges of official oppression -- not assault.

Twelve officers were disciplined in the wake of the Holley case, but many have been given their jobs back against the city's will.

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Texas DPS Trooper Pleads Guilty in Steroids Case

Kerrville, TX

A Texas DPS trooper whose 2010 trial on drug-related charges ended in a mistrial has pleaded guilty in a steroids investigation.

On Monday, in Kerrville, Jeff Jerman pleaded guilty to three counts of delivery of a controlled substance.

His November trial ended when a juror said that she believed, before hearing any evidence, that Jerman was guilty.

Defense attorney Alan Brown says Jerman will be sentenced March 11. Jerman faces up to two years behind bars and a fine of up to $10,000.

According to authorities, Jerman admitted to selling $8000 worth of steroids to an undercover police officer in September 2009.

Source

Brookshire Officer Fired, Faces Charges of Stealing From Citizen While On-Duty

Brookshire Officer Fired, Faces Charges: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Brookshire, Texas

A Brookshire police officer is without his usual job and facing charges, following accusations that he stole from a citizen while on duty.

According to a press release from the Waller County Sheriff’s Office, Officer Charles Jerome Cole was arrested and served with two grand jury indictments on Saturday.

The charges included Official Oppression (a misdemeanor) and Theft from Person (state jail felony). The press release did not offer details into what took place, saying only that Cole is accused of committing the crimes about three months ago.

The charges surfaced, following an investigation led by the county district attorney’s office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Texas Rangers, Waller County Sheriff’s Office, and the Brookshire Police Department.

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Sullivan City Police Chief Pleads Guilty To Helping Drug Cartels

McAllen, Texas

A police chief in South Texas has plead guilty to federal charges of helping Mexican drug cartels smuggle drugs across the border.

Police Chief Hernan Guerra Jr., will be sentenced in April. Guerra served as police chief of Sullivan City, located 25 miles west of McAllen. His lawyer, Oscar Alvarez, told the McAllen Monitor that his client “knew from the beginning” that he wouldn’t avoid a conviction in the case.

Last week, Guerra pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy with intent to distribute. According to prosecutors, Guerra conspired to move more than 1 ton of marijuana across the Rio Grande on flat-bottom boats in the Sullivan City area starting in June 2009.

Alvarez said the police chief understands he “abused a position of trust.”

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Harris County Deputy Accused of Killing Inmate

Harris County, Texas

The family of an elderly Houston man who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and died in the Harris County Sheriff's Office's custody is demanding answers after he sustained serious head injuries during what they said was an altercation with a deputy at the Harris County Jail.

Norman Ford Hicks Sr., 72, of the 10400 block of Royal Oaks, died at 11 p.m. Jan. 22 at Ben Taub General Hospital after his children made the decision to discontinue life support. His official cause of death has not yet been released by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, where pathologists performed an autopsy on his body.

Hicks, who was on probation, had been in custody at the Harris County Jail at 1200 Baker St. since Jan. 7 after he was arrested in Oklahoma City for unknown reasons and transferred back to Harris County, said his daughter, Marie Hicks-Fields of Houston.

The altercation happened Jan. 16 at the jail, but his daughter said the sheriff's office did not notify her of the incident. On Monday she said she did not learn her father was at Ben Taub's intensive care unit until a hospital social worker called her to confirm her father's date of birth and address.

Hicks' family said on Monday that Sgt. Felipe Rivera of the Harris County Sheriff's Office Homicide Division told them Hicks had been involved in an altercation with a staff member at the jail, although the sheriff's office refused to confirm that on Monday. Doctors said Hicks suffered multiple facial fractures and severe brain trauma, said his daughter, Evangeline Hicks Campbell of Katy.

Family members who saw Hicks at the hospital before his death said they saw bruises on his head. He never regained consciousness and died five days after arriving at the hospital, they said.

Two days after the altercation, while Hicks was hospitalized and on life support, he was charged with felony offense of harassment by a person in a correctional facility after the sheriff's office filed a complaint against him with the district attorney's office. Court papers accuse Hicks of trying to harrass, alarm and assault a deputy by causing the deputy to come into contact with feces and urine.

Court papers allege the offense happened on Jan. 7, the day Hicks was booked into the county jail. It was not immediately clear why the charge was filed after he was hospitalized and on life support.

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Is There An Increase In Sex Offenses By Police Officers?

After reviewing the police crime reports on this blog, along with law enforcement crime reports from around the country, one has to wonder about the alarming number of sex crimes committed by police officers. Check out the latest list of sex crimes from around the country.

Police Officer Sex Offenders