In late December 1995, six police officers mercilessly beat a man who had allegedly sold crack cocaine to an undercover police officer at the corner of 11th and Lydia Streets in East Austin. While witnesses looked on, some begging the police to stop, the victim, Floyd Johns Jr., appeared to be handcuffed as he lay on the ground, absorbing blows from the police on the scene. In addition to selling crack, Mr. Johns was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

While the police say they did not use "any more force than was necessary to take [Johns] into custody," civilian witnesses to the event disagreed. "Whatever he did it didn't warrant that type of beating," said one witness. "I saw about five or six police officers. All I could see was people beating and kicking. They beat him with a flashlight and everything."

Another witness told the newspaper, "I couldn't believe it. I jumped out of my car and went up to them and I said, 'Please stop.' They told me to get back across the street. The more I hollered, the more he kicked."

The only officers listed in the news report were Senior Sergeant Jerry Fearn and Officer Jessica Robledo.

by Scott Henson, July 1998

Source: Austin American Statesman, 12-31-95

Back to the APD Hall of Shame home page