Pasadena family accuses school officer of 'brutal and excessive' beating

Guadalupe Suquet, left, and her son, Cesar Suquet, talk with attorney Mark Montgomery , right, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015, in Houston about the photos showing Cesar's injuries from being beaten by a Pasadena ISD Police Officer. The officer used a nightstick to strike Cesar 18 times on the neck, back and arm. less Guadalupe Suquet, left, and her son, Cesar Suquet, talk with attorney Mark Montgomery , right, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015, in Houston about the photos showing Cesar's injuries from being beaten by a Pasadena ISD ... more Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Pasadena family accuses school officer of 'brutal and excessive' beating 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

A Pasadena family has filed a $1 million civil rights lawsuit against the Pasadena Independent School District and one of its officers for using a nightstick on a 16-year-old student.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, contends Cesar Suquet was "a victim of a brutal and excessive police beating." The Suquets allege school police didn't properly supervise or train the officer, Michael Y'Barbo, and are seeking reimbursement for the ongoing medical and psychological treatment their son is receiving.

Suquet was a 16-year-old sophomore last May when the incident happened.

He had gone to the principal's office at South Houston High School to ask for his cell phone back. It had been confiscated from him earlier in the day.

He was denied and told to leave. As he was escorted out of the building, by Y'Barbo and an assistant principal, the teenager uttered a single profanity.

The officer told the student he was under arrest, and attempted to handcuff him. Suquet, who claimed he never heard the command, said his hand was grabbed from behind and he turned to see the officer swing a raised metal nightstick. He was struck 18 times, including nine blows while he was on the ground, recorded on school surveillance cameras.

The officer arrested him for disorderly conduct, although other school employees said Suquet had not shown physical aggression. Photographs taken by his parents that night document cuts, bruises and swelling on the back of the boy's arms, legs, elbow and neck.

"It hurt, it hurt to the point that I couldn't feel it anymore," said Suquet, who still complains of limited arm movement from blows to his elbow. "I mean he wasn't gonna stop, and I was getting ready for the worst - I didn't know what was going to happen.''

Pasadena school police officers have used force 129 times since 2012, drawing and pointing their firearms 24 times, and employing pepper spray twice, according to statistics released to the Houston Chronicle. They have used nightsticks four times, with three of those incidents involving Y'Barbo.

"When I sent my son to school, I expected them to keep him safe," said Cesar's mother, Guadalupe Suquet. "I never expected he would be attacked by someone who was supposed to be keeping him safe."

District officials did not respond for a request for comment after the suit was filed.

They had previously stood behind the officer's actions, but declined to say how many times an officer is allowed to strike a student with a nightstick before moving to other tactics to make an arrest.