Arkansas officer fired after being caught on video beating inmate in back of patrol car

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas police officer has been fired after he was caught on video beating a handcuffed inmate in the back of his patrol car, and the police chief says he will refer the case to prosecutors.

Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott fired Officer Joseph Harris on Friday, the day after Harris was caught on his patrol car video punching, elbowing and slamming the car door on an inmate being transferred from a local hospital back to the county jail.

Elliott reviewed the video after receiving a complaint from the county sheriff’s office about the incident. The department also posted the video on its YouTube page and announced the officer’s firing.

“I was just shocked and appalled by (Harris’) actions,” Elliott told The Associated Press on Monday. “Based on that conduct, I’m not going to have it and I’m not going put up with it, and immediately terminated him.”

A phone number was not listed for Harris, who had worked for the department for the past five years.

Billy Lee Coram, the inmate in the back of the patrol car, is wearing a hospital gown and choking himself with a seatbelt wrapped his neck as the car is moving in the roughly 12-minute video. After the car pulls over, Harris opens the door and punches and elbows Coram several times in the face as he unwinds the belt.

RELATED COVERAGE Arkansas Supreme Court asked to disqualify ballot measure that would block planned casino Proposal to block casino plans OK’d for Arkansas ballot; medical marijuana backers given more time Arkansas abortion measure’s signatures from volunteers alone would fall short, filing shows

Harris later slams the car door against Coram’s head. Elliott said he didn’t know what injuries Coram sustained from the beating. Coram was being held at the Craighead County jail Monday on escape charges and was wanted on warrants from out of state.

Coram had been taken to the hospital after he told jail staff he had ingested fentanyl and had escaped the hospital. Harris had caught Coram and put him in his patrol car.

The jail did not return a message Monday afternoon, and no court date or attorney was listed for Coram.

Elliott said he will be referring the case to the local prosecutor and was putting together paperwork in the coming days to send to the prosecutor. The county prosecutor did not immediately return a call Monday.

Elliott also said he had contacted the FBI’s Little Rock office about the incident and will ask the state to decertify Harris as a police officer.

“Wrong is wrong. There’s not really anything to investigate,” he said.

Harris had been suspended two years ago for using excessive force and is also a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in June over an inmate who died in the Craighead County jail this year.