An Arkansas police officer who was caught on video beating a handcuffed inmate in the back of a patrol car has been fired and his case has been referred to prosecutors, the police chief said.
Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott fired Joseph Harris on Friday, a day after he was caught on his patrol car video elbowing and punching the handcuffed man and then slamming the car door on his head after the man choked himself with a seatbelt.
Elliott said the inmate, Billy Lee Coram, who is white, had been in the custody of the sheriff’s office and was being treated at a hospital for allegedly having ingested fentanyl when he escaped. He was apprehended by Harris and was being returned to the county jail when the assault occurred, Elliott said. He said that, to his knowledge, Coram had not sustained any lasting injuries.
“The serious nature of the complaint necessitated prompt action,” the department said in a statement Friday. “Following an internal review of the incident, it was determined that the officer involved, Joseph Harris, should be terminated effective immediately.”
Earlier in the nearly 12-minute video, Coram, 42, appeared visibly distraught and said that he had ingested a baggie of fentanyl the day before and that it had appeared in an X-ray taken at the hospital, but that a hospital worker had told him it was not visible on the X-ray, according to the video posted to the police department’s YouTube page. He was dressed in a hospital gown and socks. Coram said he raised his concern with multiple nurses and was rebuffed but that he was eventually able to show the package on the X-ray to a doctor who then had him sent to the ICU, according to the video. Coram also said that he hadn’t used the bathroom since ingesting the fentanyl. He then wrapped a seatbelt around his neck while the car was moving to try to choke himself.
After the car pulled over, Harris opened the door and punched and elbowed Coram several times in the face as he unraveled the seatbelt from Coram’s neck.
According to a police report based on Harris’ account, Coram “was extremely upset” en route to the jail and intentionally wrapped the seatbelt around his neck, pushed his feet to the top of the car and stretched out “in an attempt to strangle himself.” He could be heard gargling while doing this, the report said. Harris said in the report that he struck Coram in the face with a closed fist and his left elbow “to get slack in the seatbelt.”
“When I started doing this,” Coram “contorted his body again to the point I could not reach the seatbelt to remove it from his neck,” Harris said. He said he closed the door and that he had injured his elbow.
He said he opened the door again and saw Coram’s eyes were closed and he was not moving. So, to make sure he was alert, Harris said, he “sternum rubbed him.” A sternum rub involves applying hard knuckle pressure to the center of a person’s chest who may not be alert. He said Coram “eventually woke up” and was taken to the jail “with no further incident.”
In an interview on Tuesday, Elliott, the police chief, said he had learned of the video Friday morning after receiving a complaint from the county sheriff’s office.
Hours later, he met with Harris and immediately fired him based on his conduct and actions. Harris had worked for the department for a little over five years. Elliott said he had briefed Greene County Prosecutor Sonia Hagood on the matter and that she assured him she would review the video and decide whether to bring charges. Hagood did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday.
Elliott said he had also contacted the FBI’s Little Rock office, which, he said, had opened a case.
Cody Brooks, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Little Rock office, said the agency is aware of the encounter but, per its policy, it could not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.
On Monday, at a town hall organized by the Craighead County NAACP, Elliott said he shared the public’s outrage.
Elliott said he swiftly released the video because it was the right thing to do and he wanted to be transparent.
“I’m not proud of the fact the officer did what he did but I’m also not going to hide it,” he said at the town hall.
And on Tuesday he said: “It’s wrong today, it’s going to be wrong next week. There’s some internal affairs cases that come up that aren’t as clear on video. A lot of times it may take some days. But in this case, I really didn’t need anything. It was enough that I knew he didn’t need to be employed as a law enforcement officer. I will gather the facts after the fact.”
Coram is being detained at the Craighead County Jail on an escape charge and is wanted for extradition to Mississippi, a jail official said. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney. Coram is next due in court Sept. 27.
Elliott also said that he would move to have Harris decertified and added to a national database to prevent him from ever working in law enforcement again.
Harris could not immediately be reached at a telephone number listed for him.
Mayor Harold Copenhaver said he watched the video and is “appalled” by it because Harris’ actions are “inexcusable.”
“I’m upset and disappointed because we expect more from our officers,” he said. “I fully support Chief Elliott’s prompt action to terminate the officer. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated and merits investigation.”
Elliott said on Tuesday that he had suspended Harris in 2022 for using excessive force. Harris is a defendant in an ongoing lawsuit filed in June over a man who died in the Craighead County Jail this year.
