Disabled Black Man Claims He Was Tased And Dragged By Houston Police

Source: SDI Productions / Getty

Terrence Holland, a disabled Black man from the Houston area, filed a lawsuit on Feb. 29, against six members of the Houston Police Department, alleging that the officers used excessive force, leaving him with “serious physical and emotional harm,” after he was pulled over one block away from his home in the city in December 2019. 

What happened?

According to the suit, which was filed in the Southern District of Texas and obtained by Houston Landing, Holland, who is Black, was pulled over by HPD officer Antonio Jose Otero around 11 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2019, after leaving home to drive his blind nephew to the corner store. According to the suit, he called his then-girlfriend, Lisa Reyes, to come out and film his interaction with the officer as he was worried for his safety.

Otero reportedly told Holland, 47, that he was being stopped for a license or registration issue and placed under arrest. Holland informed Otero that he was unarmed, and the officer proceeded to pat him down. However, when Holland requested a supervisor, Otero allegedly became agitated and called for backup. Officers Lucia Gracia and Aaron Parr arrived to find Holland standing calmly with his hands raised, indicating he posed no threat, while he repeated his request for a supervisor, according to the filing. 

Despite Holland’s non-threatening behavior, the lawsuit claims Gracia and Parr allegedly began to kick and punch him, pulling him to the ground without warning. Officer Parr is accused of deploying his taser in “drive-stun” mode, making direct contact with Holland’s body without prior warning. Holland’s team argues that Parr’s use of the taser was a violation of HPD policy, which prohibits taser use on individuals who are not actively resisting arrest or posing a threat.

Otero allegedly joined in the assault, with all three officers striking Holland using their fists, elbows, and knees. They allegedly dragged him across a neighbor’s lawn and tased him again, using the device for close to a minute, according to the suit. As she was filming the incident, Reyes allegedly pled for the officers to stop attacking Holland. 

“You’re trying to kill him!” she shouted, the suit claimed.

Two additional officers, Julian Montemayor and R. Hernandez, arrived at the scene but allegedly did not intervene. Instead, Hernandez reportedly detained Reyes for recording the incident, while Montemayor placed Holland’s nephew in a police cruiser.

Holland hopes to be a change agent. 

When Holland was finally arrested, the charges were not related to the initial license or registration issue but for assaulting a police officer. The lawsuit also claims Otero later admitted that he had scraped his elbow on Holland’s teeth when he intentionally struck his head and face.

HPD has launched an investigation into the matter. If Holland prevails in his lawsuit, he hopes his case will bring justice and raise awareness for other victims of police brutality, particularly those who, like him, are disabled. According to court documents, Holland struggles with standing for long periods and has difficulty swallowing food, Houston Landing noted. 

“This can happen to anybody else,” Holland added. “I lived to say this. I could have died that day with them attacking me like that.”

Black drivers are being targeted in Houston, report claims.

Holland’s experience highlights a disturbing trend in the Houston area, where Black drivers are disproportionately targeted. A 2023 report from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement revealed that Black drivers in the Houston area were pulled over and searched at significantly higher rates compared to other groups.

The annual racial profiling report, which gathers data from the Houston Police Department (HPD) and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, found that the two agencies conducted 485,484 traffic stops in 2023 — a 17% increase from the previous year. Black drivers accounted for about 34% of those stops, despite making up roughly 20% of Harris County’s population, according to census data. Even more concerning, Black drivers were involved in 16,830, or nearly half, of the 34,046 searches conducted by HPD and the sheriff’s office during traffic stops in 2023.

Additionally, Black drivers were the subject of about 62% of the 10,036 searches that were carried out based on probable cause, a rate more than three times higher than that of white drivers. Notably, approximately 66% of searches conducted on Black drivers in the Houston area ended with no evidence being found.

SEE ALSO:

Family Of 5-Year-Old Black Child Allegedly Frisked By Ohio Police During Routine Traffic Stop Speaks Out

Everything We Know About The Devastating Medical Plane Crash In Philly

Read more