Former Dallas Police Officer Quaitemes Williams has been convicted of official oppression for an incident where he beat and kicked a handcuffed suspect in the head during a traffic stop for an invalid license plate. He was subsequently fired; now he could face up to a year behind bars.
Official Oppression is a class A Misdemeanor punishable by up to a Year in jail. However, he will be eligible for probation and I would be shocked if he did more than a few days in jail (if any).
Williams stopped a suspect in the 9400 block of Abrams Road and noticed his license plate didn’t match the description of his vehicle. He determined the suspect, Rodarick Lyles, was driving with a suspended license and had warrants out for his arrest.Williams and two other officers tried to arrest Lyles, but he resisted. There was a struggle and the suspect ended up falling on the officer.
Following the incident, Police Chief Brown gave the following statement: “Officer Williams could not disengage from the physical altercation. He was hurt from the fall. He became angry. After Mr. Lyles was handcuffed, they described him as out of control. Our training won’t overcome a person that becomes out of control just because someone fell on you and caused you pain. We are in physical confrontations all the time when dealing with suspects. And some of the times we’re in pain. And we’re in sometimes extreme pain. The response can’t be when the suspect is defenseless and handcuffed to kick a person in the head or even to Mace a person in response to your physical pain. We have to be more professional, more disciplined than that,” Chief Brown said.
Thank God we have video evidence from dash cams. Assholes like this officer would in many instanced get away with thing like this if they did not. I think it is time to say enough is enough. We need to make these types of offenses felonies that require a minimum jail sentence as a condition of any probationary sentence. Otherwise, whats the worst that happens? Guys like officer Williams will get fired and get slapped on the wrist?
Too many officers have a smug sense of entitlement and the punishments currently in place are insufficient to deter such despicable actions!
Arrested for Assault?
If you’ve been accused of a criminal offense involving assault contact attorney Tristan LeGrande by calling 281-684-3500.