Harris County deputy accused of attacking innocent man on camera

Harris County is facing a federal civil rights lawsuit after deputy constables were shown on bodycam video engaged in the violent arrest of a man on a roadside.

Not only does the video appear to show deputy constables attack and tase Corey Spiller, but Spiller was ultimately the one charged with assaulting a peace officer.

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That felony charge was dropped once bodycam footage reached the public eye. Cory Spiller showed up on Beltway 8 in Houston to make sure his girlfriend was okay after she’d crashed her car.

His lawyer sent Fox 26 this bodycam video showing Spiller’s initial encounter with Harris County Precinct Seven Constable’s Office supervisor Sgt. Jared Lindsay.
But when Spiller tries to ask questions, Lindsay attacks. The video shows Spiller is grabbed by the throat, thrown to the ground, tased, and arrested.

“When he asks to speak to an officer to find out what’s going on, they chokeslam him, hold him to the ground, accuse him of resisting arrest when he has done nothing wrong, and tase him,” said Matthew Marczak, Spiller’s defense lawyer.

“I was in jail just thinking like, damn, I just lost everything I worked hard for just because I wanted to help my girlfriend,” said Spiller, who has no previous criminal record.
On Monday Spiller was flanked by lawyers and activists as he announced his federal civil rights lawsuit against the county after the video showing what happened last December was finally released.

“I sent a short screen capture of it to the prosecutor handling the case, and I said, Hey, this is absolutely uncalled for,” said Marczak. “It disgusts me. I said This case needs to be dismissed. He did nothing wrong, and I got a response back the following day that said, we tried calling the officer a couple of times, so we’re just gonna go ahead and dismiss it.”

“We do not live in a society where we need to defund police,” said activist Noel Pinnock. “We need to de-tangle the police system where we have racism that erodes the whole process of what policing is all about—which is, first, to serve and, two, protect. The time is now for us to cut it out.”

Spiller’s charges were dropped about two weeks ago after prosecutors saw the video of the attack. The constable’s office declined to comment on the case or tell Fox 26 whether the supervisor Sgt. Jared Lindsay still works for them.

The Harris County Attorney’s Office is handling the lawsuit for the constable’s office and sent this statement: “Our office is reviewing the complaint that was filed yesterday.

We will be preparing and filing a response after we have had time to investigate the facts and circumstances.”

Spiller’s legal team is now looking to track down the identities of the other four deputies involved in the incident.