Deputy is indicted after face slap
After a Harris County Sheriff ’s Office deputy invited a man to slap him in the face, the lawman returned the slap with enough force to knock the older man to the ground, prosecutors said.
Deputy Ellison Collins faces a charge of assault in the September 2018 incident. A Harris County grand jury indicted the deputy Tuesday, the district attorney’s office said.
The incident occurred outside of an IHOP when Collins, 39, encountered the man in the parking lot.
Collins invited 61-year-old Jerry Allen Vaco to slap him in the face
and after Vaco did, Collins returned the slap, the office said. The force knocked the man to the ground.
Collins’ body camera was not on at the time, but another officer’s camera captured the encounter, the district attorney’s office said.
In a video of the incident obtained by the Houston Chronicle, a man identified as Vaco can be seen talking with three Harris County Sheriff ’s Office deputies in the parking lot of an IHOP.
A deputy can be heard telling the man to “slap the (s---) out of me and get it off your chest.”
“Are you going to arrest me?” Vaco asks.
The deputy again tells Vaco to slap him.
“I am giving you permission to slap the (s---) out of me and get it off your chest,” the deputy says.
Vaco puts a cigarette in his mouth and begins to slowly reach out with his palm toward the deputy. It is unclear in the video if Vaco slaps the deputy.
The deputy then slaps Vaco, causing him to fall to the ground on his face.
Two of the deputies begin handcuffing Vaco. The deputy then tells Vaco, “That was stupid” as they escort him away.
The sheriff ’s office began an internal affairs investigation into the incident that same month, said Jason Spencer, a spokesman for the agency.
In February, the agency turned over its findings to the district attorney’s office.
Collins has been on nonlaw enforcement administrative duty, Spencer said, adding the investigative findings will be presented to the sheriff ’s Administrative Discipline Committee to recommend possible disciplinary action.
“Everyone is accountable under the law whether they are wearing a uniform or not,” District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “Grand jurors were presented all of the evidence and determined the deputy should be charged with a crime.”
The assault charge is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.