Former Arkansas officer arrested, charged with assault in beating of handcuffed man

A former Arkansas police officer who was caught on video beating a handcuffed man in the back of a patrol car in August has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault.

Joseph Harris turned himself in Tuesday morning at the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office to face charges of aggravated assault, filing a false police report and third-degree battery. He was released the same morning on a $15,000 bond, a jail official said.

Harris, 29, was fired from the Jonesboro Police Department a day after he was recorded on his patrol car camera elbowing, punching and slamming a car door against the head of a handcuffed man, Billy Lee Coram, after video showed Coram appearing to choke himself with a seat belt. Coram was being transferred from a hospital back to jail in Craighead County.

Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott previously told NBC News that he learned of the video after receiving a complaint from the county sheriff’s office.

“The serious nature of the complaint necessitated prompt action,” the department said in a statement in August, the same day Elliott said he became aware of the video. “Following an internal review of the incident, it was determined that the officer involved, Joseph Harris, should be terminated effective immediately.”

A phone number was not listed for Harris. He did not immediately reply to messages sent to email addresses listed for him. It is unclear whether he has an attorney. He is next due in court Feb. 28.

In the nearly 12-minute video, Coram, who was dressed in a hospital gown and socks, choked himself with a seat belt wrapped around his neck while the car was moving. After the car pulled over, Harris opened the door and punched and elbowed Coram several times in the face as he unraveled the seat belt from Coram’s neck. Harris also slammed the car door against Coram’s head.