A man who was attacked by three San Antonio police officers last year while taking photos of his wife’s business is now paralyzed from the neck down.
But San Antonio police have already wiped their hands of the matter, saying they had merely confused Roger Carlos with a violent felon whom they were chasing when they hopped out of a van and attacked him before realizing he was the wrong man.
The department’s chief told the media last year that the three cops would be suspended for 15 unpaid days, before quietly reducing the punishment to five days before retiring immediately after.
The cops, Carlos Chavez, Virgilo Gonzalez and a third whose name they are still protecting, were allowed to use accrued leave time, so they didn’t miss receiving their regular income.
Chief William McManus also told the media that Carlos’ injuries were not that serious and he should understand that they were only trying to keep him safe but he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time when he was taking photos of his wife’s new business to capture that special moment.
But now it is being reported that Carlos is paralyzed from the June 2014 incident.
According to KENS 5:
Roger Carlos, 43, was paralyzed during surgery November 3 at a San Antonio area hospital.
Doctors have performed multiple surgeries on Carlos’s neck and upper spine to relieve pain and pressure from herniated discs, following his May 2014 beating at the hands of two SAPD SWAT officers and a drug task force officer.
Carlos’s wife, Ronnie, told the I-Team Friday that a piece of bone broke off and compressed against his spinal cord during the Nov. 3 procedure.
According to SAPD reports previously released to the I-Team, prior to the beating, the three officers were pursuing a suspect in the 10600 block of Westover Hills Boulevard. The suspect was wanted on drug and weapons charges.
Instead they found Carlos, who has no criminal record and was using his phone to take pictures of his wife’s medical practice.
Carlos said during an interview last year he was struck about 50 times, even though he complied with the officers’ instructions and did not fight back.
Besides the neck injuries, Carlos suffered a broken tooth, a large gash above his eye and swelling of his skull. A recent CT scan also revealed a previously undiscovered brain aneurysm, according to Ronnie Carlos.
This is how we wrote it on PINAC when the news first surfaced.
A San Antonio man taking photos of his wife’s soon-to-be medical practice was attacked by a plainclothes cop who roared up in a pickup and hopped out, ordering him to get down, striking him in the face with what appeared to be a handheld radio before he could even comply.
Two uniformed SWAT team members quickly joined in, striking Roger Carlos in the head about 50 times with fists and elbows before handcuffing him. satisfied that they had their man.
Except the real man were looking was someone else whom they had chased for miles down a freeway at 80 mph before he pulled into a parking lot, ditched his car and ran.
When the dimwit cops pulled off the freeway and spotted Roger taking photos outside his building in broad daylight, they pounced on him, figuring a fleeing fugitive felon would stop and take photos of a random building during his getaway.
It was only when a fourth cop pulled up and informed the three cops that they had already arrested their man down the street; a 27-year-old named Josue Rodriguez who was charged with illegal gun and drug possession, accused of driving around with a sawed-off shotgun and 20 grams of methamphetamine.
So police went into immediate coverup mode, declaring that not only did Carlos fit Rodriguez’s description, which is questionable by the photos below, he resisted arrest – even if it was a blatantly unlawful arrest.
The description was a young, Hispanic man, which could be almost anybody in a city consisting of more than 63 percent Hispanics.
As you can see in the bottom two photos in this set, they didn’t beat Rodriguez nearly as hard as they beat Carlos. The family now says they are speaking to an attorney to file a lawsuit.
Roger Carlos
Josue Rodriguez
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