Posted on 08/01/2015 12:14:24 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Another jail encounter is making headlines in Texas.
This week, video was released from an incident that occurred in February at Jefferson County Jail. It shows a police officer punching an intoxicated, handcuffed woman after she spit in his face.
"I'm going to try to make sure that he has to pay for it," said Lisa Hayes, who was punched by the officer.
Hayes doesn't remember much from the night she was punched by an officer after she spit at him at the jail, but she recalls the injuries.
"Both my shoulders were torn. I had scars on my wrists, my feet, my hips," Hayes said.
Hayes was arrested for public intoxication.
According to a sheriff's office internal report, she spit at Beaumont police officers as they arrested her.
She appeared to be passed out at the jail, but when paramedics asked her to walk, she stood up and began cursing at officer Raymond Sellers, then spit on him. Then he's seen on the video punching her in response.
"I'm not gonna say I don't blame myself because who can't blame their self for being intoxicated and spitting at someone," said Hayes. "But I hold him more responsible because he should've been the one making sure I wasn't hurting me nor anybody else, not the one hurting me."
That same night a report shows an officer used a stun gun on Hayes after six officers tried to remove her clothes and place her in a suicide gown. That report says she wouldn't stop kicking them.
But Jefferson County District Attorney Bob Wortham says his office can't do much without a law enforcement investigation.
"The district attorney's office does not take direct referrals," Wortham said. "We do not have sufficient investigators to take direct referrals to our office. They have to come from a law enforcement agency."
Lisa Hayes says she didn't file a complaint with the sheriff's office earlier because she hardly remembers anything from that night. "Up until this point I felt just disappointed of myself because I was under the impression I did all this to myself," said Hayes. But she's now seeking legal representation.
On Thursday, the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed that officials with the Texas Rangers have opened an investigation.
Spitting on cops is assault. If you have diseases it’s even a more serious charge.
If she spit on me I’d punch her. She wants to act like a man, she will get treated like a man.
She says she’s blameless.
I say, he didn’t hit her hard enough because she’s still senseless.
smh Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. She sounds like a real Southern belle.
For sure, psycho bitch here will get a nice lawyer to get more attention. You are correct, it’s assault. The cop’s human too and reached his limit of accommodation.
Why hurt your fist?
That’s what taser is for.
I don’t care how drunk she was, it’s no excuse.
Lisa Hayes says she didn’t file a complaint with the sheriff’s office earlier because she hardly remembers anything from that night.
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She remembers NOTHING until she ran into an ambulance chasing sleazy lawyer who took time out from recruiting SSI potential recipients to tell her she had a case.
The cop ought to hire a sleazier lawyer and sue the pants off her for spitting on him.
Any drunk who hassles a sober person should be beaten senseless.
I agree completely
Whoever starts the fight...just started the fight!
A very fine officer in our jurisdiction was spit on. The arrested man banged his head till his face was bleeding and the blood ran to his mouth. The officer was buckling him in the back seat and the blood and spit went into his eyes. The defendant has Hep C. I have no sympathy for the spitters of the world.
That’s what disrespecting authority gets her. She’s lucky that’s all she got. But, the real issue is this is what all the wrongly focused media attention on the cops, not the real criminals, gets us. No one respects the law any more. Imagine (in the words of Ted Cruz)...if those of us who grew up in the south 50 years ago would have given the middle finger to a peace officer, much less than spitting in his face?
Spitting AT not ON. Another example of out of control cops that deserve jail. Police are to serve and protect, to be discipline, show restraint, and respect even when not returned. Failing this, they should be fired and when they assault a citizen or violate our rights, they should be jailed. Zero tolerance is the only solution.
Hep a,b and c, Syphilis, HIV, flu, cold viruses...getting in your eye can be dangerous. Hope she was tested before she went to lawyer.
He didn't assault her, she assaulted him.
She spit AT him, not on, HE ASSAULTED HER WHILE SHE WAS ALREADY IN HANDCUFFS.
the police are recruited from the general population, hence reflect today’s society...
They will have to decide whether his response was appropriate or necessary, but if she spit at him she assaulted him.
That's assuming she did it, of course. All we have is what's in the article. It still has to be proven in court anyway.
The only issue about the handcuffs is that she was minimally restrained, was not a risk of escape and she could not fight back. Is that important in the analysis?
She initiated combat with the officer, he responded. End of case. Should he have tased her instead of punching her? Sure! But we don’t know if he had a loaded taser on him.
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