TEXAS CITY, TEXAS – A police officer pulled a 21-year-old man out of a vehicle, threw him face-down on the ground and apparently punched him in the face after a traffic stop for failing to signal 100 feet before a turn, according to a video of the incident and court records.
Texas City police reportedly are investigating the officer’s conduct but did not respond to requests for comment made July 25, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.
Freeman ended up charged with resisting arrest, a Class A misdemeanor and was held on a $2,500 bond, according to court documents. He posted bond a day or two later, Marcus Esther, his attorney, said.
Freeman denies the charge of resisting arrest and the officer’s accusation that he failed to signal within 100 feet of a turn, Esther said.
The video shows Turner approach Freeman’s vehicle, tell him he failed to signal and instruct him to get out of the vehicle.
Freeman responded by saying “no,” “that’s unlawful” and “you can’t do that.”
Turner is shown opening the car door and unbuckling Freeman’s seatbelt and grabbing his wrist as Freeman continues to say “that’s unlawful.”
Turner pulled Freeman out of his vehicle by the arm and put him face-down on the ground, the video show. The video cuts off after that.
“He was legitimately scared,” Esther said.
Turner reported that Freeman then refused to put his hands behind his back and pulled away while he was trying to handcuff him, according to court documents.
Turner punched him in the face and was then able to arrest him without incident, according to court documents.
Freeman did not have a weapon, didn’t make threats or appear threatening and his hands were visible before and during the interaction, Esther said.
He had pulled over after Turner turned his lights on and recorded because he was concerned about why he was being pulled over, Esther said.
“I just know it’s unusual,” he said.
Police did not respond to the Daily News’ request for body camera and dash board video and radio reports from the incident.
“Since that arrest he’s been scared, concerned,” Esther said.
After Freeman posted the video July 18, which got more than 2 million views, he received hate comments and messages and eventually took it down, Esther said.
“He’s nervous; he’s anxious, and that’s because we’re still waiting,” Esther said.
The case had not been assigned to a court on Thursday, and there were no records of any charges in county court systems, Esther said.
Even the resisting arrest charge, which was the subject of the probable-cause affidavit, wasn’t listed among the county’s online court records Friday.
Esther said Thursday he still was trying to determine whether Freeman will be charged with failure to signal.
Freeman appeared not to be aware that officers can arrest drivers for failure to signal 100 feet before a turn.
Police, however, can arrest people for failing to signal within 100 feet of a turn, Esther said, but he’s never seen an arrest solely for that before.
“Would I say it’s normal? No. Can they do it? Yes,” Esther said.
Esther and Freeman will decide whether they’ll file a complaint against the officer after the criminal case concludes, Esther said.
Turner has been a peace officer at the Texas City Police Department since December 2022, according to Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records.
Police did not respond to questions about the incident, the investigation into it or Turner’s employment status.
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