Arkansas officer fired after being caught on video beating inmate in back of patrol car
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas police officer has been fired after he was captured on video beating a handcuffed inmate in the trunk of his patrol car. The police chief has said he will refer the case to the state attorney general’s office.
Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott fired Officer Joseph Harris on Friday, the day after Harris was caught on video punching, elbowing and slamming the car door of an inmate who was being transferred back to jail from a local hospital.
Elliott viewed the video after receiving a complaint from the county sheriff’s office about the incident. The department also posted the video on his YouTube page and announced the officer’s dismissal.
“I was just shocked and appalled by (Harris’) actions,” Elliott told The Associated Press on Monday. “Based on that behavior, I’m not going to stand for it and I’m not going to tolerate it, and I’ve fired him immediately.”
There was no phone number listed for Harris, who had worked for the department for the past five years.
Billy Lee Coram, the prisoner in the back of the patrol car, is wearing a hospital gown and strangles himself with a seatbelt around his neck as the car moves in the approximately 12-minute video. After the car stops, Harris opens the door and punches and elbows Coram multiple times in the face as he unbuckles the seatbelt.
Harris later slams the car door on Coram’s head. Elliott said he did not know what injuries Coram sustained from the beating. Coram was being held Monday in the Craighead County Jail on suspicion of escape and was wanted on out-of-state warrants.
Coram had been taken to the hospital after telling jail staff he had taken fentanyl and escaped from the hospital. Harris captured Coram and put him in his patrol car.
The prison did not respond Monday afternoon and no court date or attorney has been set for Coram.
Elliott said he would refer the case to the local district attorney and that he was gathering paperwork in the coming days to send to the district attorney. The county district attorney did not immediately return a call Monday.
Elliott also said he had contacted the FBI office in Little Rock about the incident and would ask the state to revoke Harris’ certification as a police officer.
“A mistake is a mistake. There is nothing really to investigate,” he said.
Harris was suspended two years ago for using excessive force and is also a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in June against an inmate who died this year in the Craighead County Jail.