Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – August 9, 2024 – Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott fired Officer Joseph Harris Friday after a complaint led to an investigation of the way Harris treated a prisoner.
Local news outlet NEAReport reported Elliott said the FBI’s Little Rock office will be investigating the incident. Elliott had earlier said the case was being turned over to Prosecuting Attorney Sonia Hagood.
According to a Facebook post on the Jonesboro Police Department account “Earlier today, the Jonesboro Police Department Administration was informed of a complaint about an incident involving a JPD officer that occurred the previous evening. The serious nature of the complaint necessitated prompt action. Following an internal review of the incident, it was determined that the officer involved, Joseph Harris, should be terminated effective immediately. We are working through this as quickly as possible, and in the interest of transparency, we are releasing the video that resulted from this action. The video has been posted to our Jonesboro Police Department YouTube page.”
The video appears to show Harris strike the prisoner with his fist and elbow repeatedly and slam his head with the door at least twice.
The JPD Facebook post had 782 comments as of Friday evening, many asking “will the officer be charged?” for his actions. Elliott said earlier this evening that no charges have been filed but said the actions appear to be criminal in nature.
WARNING: THE INCIDENT ON THIS VIDEO IS VERY GRAPHIC AND MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME VIEWERS
The prisoner in the video was identified as Billy Lee Coram. Jail records show Coram is an inmate at the Craighead County Detention Center. Records indicate he was booked into the jail Wednesday, August 7 at 6pm. He was being held on escape charges for another agency. According to a police affidavit, Coram had reportedly been taken to St. Bernards Medical Center telling police he had ingested multiple Fentanyl pills wrapped in foil. Coram was waiting at the hospital to be taken back to the detention center when he walked away. Officers found him a short distance away. That was the point the video began with Coram sitting in the back seat of a patrol car Officer Harris was driving.
NEAReport quoted Chief Elliott as saying, “The bottom line is, we got this complaint this morning and once Captain McDaniel brought it to my attention and we looked at the video, it’s like…we will begin an immediate investigation and to get that officer summoned to report to the PD,” Elliott said. “He worked late, so phone calls to get through to him in the afternoon were unsuccessful. We finally made contact with him this afternoon, and I immediately terminated him. This was egregious enough that I didn’t need a statement from him, I didn’t care to hear a perspective from him, you’re terminated. There’s times that things are iffy, and you want the full story, and you want to look at everything. But there’s enough here that I don’t have to look at nothing else. Enough is enough, I’m not tolerating this, I’m not having this. You’re done.”
This is not the first trouble for Harris. In July 2022 Harris was involved in an incident outside the Midnight Rodeo night club where video showed Harris slamming a young male to a parking lot. Harris was suspended for 22 hours for his actions in connection with that incident. Many of the comments on the JPD Facebook post today questioned whether or not Harris should have been terminated when this incident happened. Elliott was asked that question by NEAReport. “That’s a different situation than this,” Elliott said. “Using a takedown instead of beating someone is a little different.”
In June of this year Harris and another officer were named in a wrongful death lawsuit over the death of Brock Tyner. The suit alleges the officers failed to provide medical assistance to Tyner, who died two hours after they left him at the jail.
City of Jonesboro Communications Director Donna Malone released a statement from Jonesboro Mayor Harold Copenhaver. “I’ve watched the video and I’m appalled because the officer’s actions in that video are inexcusable. I’m upset and disappointed because we expect more from our officers. I fully support Chief Elliot’s prompt action to terminate the officer. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated and merits investigation. “
JRN will continue to follow the development of this story.