Authorities said a former Houston police officer accused of assaulting a fleeing, handcuffed man and yelling for another officer to “shoot his a—” in a video has been indicted on aggravated assault charges.
According to NBC News, Lucas Vieira is charged with a first-degree felony, which carries a maximum prison term of 99 years, in connection with an incident that began with a traffic violation on July 7, 2019. Aundre Howard, 34, the alleged victim, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging excessive force in April.
According to the lawsuit, the encounter occurred in Houston when Howard, 34, was traveling with an expired registration. According to the suit, Vieria commanded Howard out of his car and arrested him, and despite the fact that he cooperated and no weapons were located, he was nonetheless placed in a patrol car.
Howard ran before a second officer could conduct what the suit described as a body cavity search.
According to Vieria’s lawyer, James Siscoe, the officers were nearly hit by oncoming traffic when Howard raced across a highway service lane. When they caught up with him, the cops “struggled to restrain Howard from yanking both of them into highway traffic,” according to the account.
Vieria could be seen chasing Howard while calling to a second officer, Thomas Serrano, in a brief body camera footage shared by Kallinen. Vieria could be seen punching Howard in the head after Serrano has apprehended him.
