Madison police officer Eric Parker charged with third-degree assault after video emerges of him throwing Sureshbhai Patel, visiting from India, to the floor

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

India’s government says it is “extremely disturbed” after one of its citizens visiting Alabama was thrown to the ground and partially paralyzed by a police officer.

Madison police officer Eric Parker has been charged with third-degree assault after he was captured on video throwing Sureshbhai Patel to the ground. Patel underwent spinal surgery, according to his son Chirag, who said his father, visiting the US for just the second time, was paralyzed in the incident.

In audio released by police, the caller reports a man walking near his home. “He was doing it yesterday and today – he’s just on foot. He’s just kind of walking around close to the garage.”

When asked to provide a visual description, the caller says: “He’s a skinny black guy. He’s got a toboggan on, he’s really skinny.”

The caller said he had to leave for work and was nervous about leaving his wife home alone.

Video shows police throwing Patel to the ground in a nearly deserted neighborhood on a clear, bright morning. After patting him down, the officers try to get Patel to stand up, but his knees buckle. The three officers can’t get Patel to stand up, though police said he was then taken to a local hospital.

Officials said Patel spoke little English and when officers went to pat him down, he pulled away.

Patel had arrived in the US days earlier to help take care of his grandson, according to a federal lawsuit. The morning of the incident, he was walking on his usual route in the neighborhood, straight down his son’s street and back.

India’s external affairs ministry spokesman, Syed Akbaruddin, said the government took the incident “very seriously” and was in contact with the US mission in New Delhi, officials in Washington DC and the local police department.

“We want to make it abundantly clear that we are extremely worried about what has happened to Sureshbhai Patel, an Indian national,” Akbaruddin said at a news conference on Thursday.

“What we will communicate is that we are extremely disturbed,” he said. “This is a matter of concern for us, and India and the US, as open, pluralist societies, need to address these issues and find ways in a mature manner so that these are aberrations and are not the norm.”

Parker turned himself in to the police department on Thursday.

Department chief Larry Muncey said on Thursday that he recommended that Parker be fired. “I sincerely apologize to Mr Patel, Mr Patel’s family and our community,” Muncey said.

The department investigated Parker last year for shooting at someone who tried to rob him, according to al.com. Police said at the time that Parker had earned awards for trying to save a five-month old and for helping an elderly man.

Family attorney Hank Sherrod said that Patel told police “no English” and repeatedly told them his son’s house number. Sherrod said he believes that Patel’s skin color played a role in the incident.

Patel has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Madison and two unnamed officers, claiming that he was thrown on the ground for no reason and that injuries from the incident left him paralyzed. His family said he has since regained use of all limbs except for his left leg.

Patel, new to the US, has no health insurance, but has begun physical therapy and is expected to make a full recovery.