The Harris County Sheriff’s Office announced last week that several of its deputies are under investigation in connection with their conduct during the arrests of two Houston-area high school football players this month.
Video of the incident was shared on social media last week and sparked accusations that the deputies used excessive force during the arrests.
According to a statement released by the HCSO, the department is launching a probe to see if “any policies and procedures were violated” during the arrest.
The video, shot this month in what appeared to be a shopping center parking lot, showed officers arresting Seth Palumbo, a football player at Langham Creek High School in suburban Houston, after he’d apparently been called by teammate Kristopher Willis when Willis ran out of gas, local station ABC 13 reported.
Willis had just left school when he ran out of gas and called his two friends to come to help him.
“As my friends pulled up, I gave them the bottles I had so they can fill it up with gas so I can make it to the gas station,” Willis told the station.
Willis stated that at that time about three or four police units appeared and pulled them over. It is not clear whether Willis and Palumbo’s cars were in the roadway at this point.
One video shot by a passenger in Palumbo’s car shows a deputy pulling Palumbo out of his car. The teen is seen shouting that he didn’t do anything as the deputy is dragging him out the car.
In what looks like chaos, the deputy is pulling the senior around and then slamming him on the ground. Other deputies surround the car and even try to stop the arrest from…
Read the full article here
