A young girl was seen holding a stun gun at the head of a police officer during a bizarre hazing ritual
Candid video from a police house party in 2017 shows an officer being pinned down and handcuffed by colleagues before they, and a young girl, pretend to use a stun gun on him.
The video, obtained by KSAT, shows the man try to resist as four officers from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office hold him down on a tiled floor.
As the bizarre hazing ritual goes on, a woman can be heard calling out: ‘taser taser taser’.
Soon after, a male officer is seen holding a stun gun at the base of Corporal Devin Tutor’s neck, and little more than 30 seconds later, a young girl in a pink t-shirt wanders over.
She mutters something to the group of men, and a woman behind her yells out ‘Let me tase him’, while pointing at her as if to translate.
Time appears to pass off camera, as the next clip shows a man pick the girl up from next to the officer and give her a hi-five.
In another jumpy scene, the girl is later seen right behind Tutor’s head, where she is holding the stun gun unsupervised.
She points the taser at the Tutor’s head before an officer quickly snatches it out of her hand. Unaware, Tutor turns his head back and yells ‘oh s***’.
The clips were posted to Snapchat in August 2017, but the video was only released under open records this week.
The officers involved are from the Special Emergency Response Team, and they are targeting Corporal Tutor because he had recently been promoted within the team.
During what appeared to be a house party, officers from Bexar Sheriff’s Office’s Special Emergency Response Team pinned down a man who had recently been promoted and handcuffed him while threatening him with a taser. It is unclear if the taser was used
Pictured: Five officers stand with Corporal Devin Tutor after he is hazed
Although the stun gun is seen repeatedly throughout the video, it is not clear if it is ever used. KSAT report use of the taser was only ‘simulated’.
Of the seven deputies implicated in the scandal, only three remain with the Sheriff’s Office, and none serve on the SERT anymore.
Deputies Alyssa Aranda and Michael Gomez resigned from their positions, while Deputies Ryan Ferrell and Juan Macias both faced 30-day suspensions.
Ferrell and Macias were initially given a harsher punishment, but were able to appeal for a lesser suspension. Deputy Joshua Montoya was also able to appeal, and his suspension only lasted 15 days.
Corporal Devin Tutor had recently been promoted within the team, and did not face disciplinary action as the victim of the hazing
Deputy Joseph Martinez was fired – but for an unrelated DWI.
Tutor was initially disciplined over the party, but his punishment, which has not been disclosed, was withdrawn.
The officers could have faced charges of child endangerment, unlawful restraint and hazing, but the local District Attorney’s Office did not proceed with a case.
Sheriff Javier Salazar was upset at the incident, and told KSAT he and his team had been working hard to cut out a decades-old hazing culture.
‘Certainly can’t allow, in this day and age, in the 21st century, to allow hazing to continue,’ he said.
‘I challenge anybody to watch this video and tell me that a toddler holding one of my issued Tasers is a good idea, or that it presents a pretty picture for us at the sheriff’s office.’