Joe Campos Torres (December 20,1953 - May 5, 1977) was a 23-year-old Vietnam Veteran who was beaten by several Houston police officers and subsequently died.
Torres' body was found floating in 15 ft. of water in Buffalo Bayou
Posted on 07/17/2013 2:00:56 PM PDT by Altariel
SAN MARCOS, Texas -- A police officer in San Marcos is in jail after arresting a pedestrian whom police say didn’t break the law.
Corporal James Angelo Palermo, 40, conducted a traffic stop on May 29 during his midnight shift patrol near 126 S. Guadalupe Street.
According to the arrest affidavit, Palermo stopped a Toyota Prius shortly after 1:00 a.m. for driving the wrong way on a one-way street and began questioning the driver.
A pedestrian walking by was called over by Palermo and asked why she was walking by his traffic stop. He then asked for the woman’s identification.
When the woman insisted she had done nothing wrong Palermo slammed her against the Prius; then onto the concrete driveway near his patrol car.
Palermo arrested the woman for obstruction. After his supervisors reviewed his report and talked to the pedestrian she was released.
Upon further investigation supervisors found the woman had lost two teeth and suffered a concussion during the illegal arrest.
Palermo was arrested for aggravated assault by a public servant. The woman is currently being treated for her injuries and could require further surgery, according to the affidavit.
The department issued the following statement:
"Cpl. James Palermo of the San Marcos Police Department was arrested Tuesday, July 16 and charged with aggravated assault with serious bodily injury by a public servant, a first degree felony, in connection with an incident that occurred May 29 in which a woman suffered serious injuries during an arrest. Police Chief Howard Williams ordered an internal investigation on May 30.
Employed by the SMPD since 2000, Palermo has been on paid administrative leave since June 10 while the San Marcos Police Department conducted the investigation. The arrest was reviewed by the Hays County District Attorney’s Office and by a prosecutor with the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
Palermo was booked in the Hays County Law Enforcement Center Tuesday afternoon and awaits magistration."
College kid? Irrelevant. Her teeth assaulted a government employee’s fist.
Christian? Oh, now you’re trying to suggest that government employees are going after believers yet AGAIN. Don’t you know our government employees suffer? Don’t you know how challenging it is to handle a Christian pedestrian?
< / sarc>
What about all those on FR who always write.."Better to be judge by 12 than carried by 6." The same logic, and privilege should apply even more so to cops..
Judging by the height of his forehead, he's used them for awhile..
:-)
Tell me this is sarcasm.
Joe Campos Torres (December 20,1953 - May 5, 1977) was a 23-year-old Vietnam Veteran who was beaten by several Houston police officers and subsequently died.
Torres' body was found floating in 15 ft. of water in Buffalo Bayou
We understand the officer acted illegally.
She did not.
He assaulted her.
She did not assault him.
You do not have to show ID to an officer in Texas who demands it *unless* he has legal reason to detain you.
That’s pitiful.
No, they are not kidding. The folks around here who post these kind of threads seem to think it proves something about LOEs, in general. And, they will tear at you for hours if you disagree.
They have an antinomian, anarchical bent to their remarks screaming for heads and imprisonment of men/women making split second decisions. Meanwhile, they sit in their Barcoloungers burping up cheap beer and scratching their crotches. And that is just the women.
No, they won't go out and protect us themselves, but they sure have loud mouths and bad opinions about the officers who do. And, they will spew hate and venom toward anyone who disagrees with their vile cult. Now, watch the flames...
The account of the incident in the article says she was "walking past" and he "called her over". Now he's got another person to deal with that, left well enough alone would have just kept on walking.
And where do you find this kind of knowledge, from Mall Cop?
In Texas, there is no requirement for anyone to show ID to a police officer if they are walking. That was adjudicated by the Supreme Court. She was perfectly within her rights not to produce ID.
/johnny
It is morally wrong to judge cops in general based on the actions of a few bad apples.
But it is also morally wrong to use the difficulty of a cop's job to defend the actions of every cop, every time, everywhere.
Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47 (1979) United States Supreme Court.
Brown 1, Texas 0.
/johnny
SCOTUS has ruled that cops have no constitutional obligation to protect American citizens. (See Warren v. District of Columbia)
Legally speaking, cops do not “protect the citizens”.
Those who perpetuate that myth repeat a lie originating from those who wish to disarm Americans and prevent them from protecting themselves.
Obviously the officer is suffering from George Zimmerman syndrome. /s
Torres had also been an army Ranger, I knew that spot that the cops used to sleep at.
I have lots of Houston police stories of beatings, one was when we were actually in the air conditioned, carpeted, police offices with secretaries and other detectives watching as they worked over my two handcuffed friends.
It’s about damned time this was the result of yet another incident of this type.
I come from a family with a law enforcement background but I am having a hard time rah-ing for the cops anymore. A hard time. It’s not one isolated incident like this one but rather the cumulative effect seemingly ever growing and glaring police misconduct. Ones that come to mind:
-BPD’s overreaction to the Boston bombing hunt. Serious, yes. Go around dragging people out of their houses and sticking AR’s in housewives’ faces? Hell. NO! Ridiculous overreaction.
-LAPDs reaction to the ex-cop several months. LAPD is opening fire on any pickup that even comes close to fitting the description and without warning. The LAPD could have killed as many as the guy they were after if they hadn’t been lucky. Irresponsible.
-Local case here in Texas of a 70-odd year old homeowner who hears something outside, grabs his handgun, goes outside......and gets shot and killed in the street by two rookie cops who were investigating an incident at another house nearby.
Those are just the ones off the top of my head. I no longer hold law enforcement of any type in any higher regard, give them any more deference than I would anyone else, or consider them to be more intelligent or up-standing than the average. Too many of them are thugs just wearing a different uniform.
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