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It all came down to payback, according to a civil lawsuit filed by Jeremiah Ramos. On Oct. 1, 2019, then Dallas County Sheriff’s Deputy Austin Palmer was nearly struck by a pickup truck he believed Ramos was driving.
A week later, Palmer “returned for his revenge,” alleges the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in North Texas. Palmer and another deputy cuffed Ramos and put him in the back of a cruiser, arresting him on an outstanding felony warrant.
Austin Palmer, an ex-deputy, has been charged over an incident in which he Tased a handcuffed man.
Courtesy of Dallas County Sheriff’s Department
Palmer asked Ramos whether he remembered “almost killing” him, but Ramos insisted he hadn’t been driving the truck.
Palmer, who is no longer a deputy, slid a taser from his waistband, placed it to Ramos’s stomach and shocked the man for 15-20 seconds, the complaint adds.
As Ramos continued denying knowing who Palmer was or having nearly killed him, the complaint says, the deputy “then placed the taser on Mr. Ramos’ genitals and throat and informed Mr. Ramos that he would deploy the taser to Ramos’ genitals and throat if Ramos said another word.”
Once in Dallas County Jail, Ramos wrote a letter to his mother insisting that he hadn’t resisted arrest. “Mom, I didn’t do anything to deserve this,” he told her. “They just did it to me for nothing.”
On Monday, a Tarrant County grand jury returned a criminal indictment, slapping Palmer with a misdemeanor charge of official oppression and another for assault with bodily injury, the Fort Worth Star Telegram reports.
If convicted, Palmer could face a year in jail and a $4,000 fine for each charge.
Ezekiel Tyson, Jr., one of Ramos’ attorneys, said Monday’s indictment “gives us further reassurance” in the civil lawsuit.
He explained that he first learned of Palmer owing a previous lawsuit he filed, which alleged that the deputy had broken a man’s neck during a traffic stop September 2015. (Last March, a judge dismissed that suit with prejudice.)
“Once we heard about Mr. Ramos’ case, we were wondering why [Palmer] was still on Dallas County streets knowing that we had that lawsuit pending against him,” he said.
After Palmer was arrested in January 2020, he posted a $1,500 bond. The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office recused itself from the case, transferring it to the nearby Tarrant County DA.
On Monday, a Dallas County Sheriff’s spokesperson confirmed that Palmer was terminated on Jan. 24, 2020, shortly after his arrest.
“Mom, I didn’t do anything to deserve this.” – Jeremiah Ramos
“We think it is important for the public to know that they can trust us to police ourselves,” Sheriff Marian Brown said by email. “The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office is committed to our core values of integrity, professionalism and accountability.”
According to the lawsuit, the other deputy, Phillip Koening, “admitted that Mr. Ramos was not resisting in any way.” Koening also confessed that neither he nor his partner filed a use of force report after the incident.
There is no body camera footage of the incident, according to the lawsuit and Palmer’s arrest warrant from January 2020.
The lawsuit says Ramos could smell his flesh burning, was left with “several burns and cuts” on his stomach and momentarily blacked out.
An attorney for Palmer was not listed in court records.
