Houston News
Cops indicted in inmate's death
06:41 PM CST on Wednesday, January 23, 2008
A Harris County grand jury on Wednesday indicted two police officers for the death of a Pasadena inmate.
Pedro Gonzales died in the Pasadena City Jail in July, about five hours after Officers J.W. Buckaloo and Christopher Jones arrested him on suspicion of public intoxication.
Police said he suffered 11 fractures on eight ribs.
One broken rib punctured a lung, filling Gonzales’ chest cavity with blood, according to the medical examiner, who ruled the death a homicide.
PASADENA P.D.
Christopher Jones, left, and J.W. Buckaloo.
The officers admitted they used their knees and elbows to subdue Gonzales when he resisted arrest. Greg Cagle, an attorney for the officers, says that’s what they’re trained to do.
“When officers train, they’re trained to win the fight,” he said.
But a witness testified that Gonzales did not resist.
“They think this is going to discourage officers. They’ll be less likely to get involved when they see something going on, if this is going to be the reaction,” Cagle said.
The officers have been charged with criminally negligent homicide.
This isn’t Buckaloo’s first indictment.
In 2001, he was accused of excessive force by a student at South Houston High School.
Buckaloo was working a security job at the school at the time.
A jury acquitted him, but Pasadena ISD didn’t renew his contract for off-duty security work.
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