Houston’s police chief told jurors on Tuesday that the 2010 videotaped beating of a black teen burglary suspect made him “sick to my stomach†and gave the police department a “black eye.â€
Police Chief Charles McClelland Jr. testified that fired officer Drew Ryser – one of four officers who were indicted in the case – mistreated the teen during his arrest and failed to follow proper procedures.
“It made me sick to my stomach because it was an egregious use of force and the men and women of the Houston Police Department are better than that … they did not deserve that type of black eye,†McClelland told special prosecutor Jonathan Munier.
Ryser’s attorneys have said he was following textbook procedures to arrest a suspect he had been told might have been armed. The ex-officer is on trial on a misdemeanor charge of official oppression and faces up to a year in jail if convicted.
Read more about the case here.