LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – A former Arkansas police officer who was caught on video punching a handcuffed inmate in the back of his patrol car last year has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault.
Former Jonesboro police officer Joseph Tucker Harris, 29, was arrested Tuesday on misdemeanor charges of aggravated assault, filing a false report and third-degree criminal mischief. Harris was released from a county detention center on $15,000 bond.
Harris was fired in August after he was caught on his patrol car camera punching, elbowing and slamming a car door into the head of inmate Billy Lee Coram, who was transferred from a local hospital to the Craighead County Jail.
Trusted news and daily treats, straight to your inbox
See for yourself: The Yodel is the source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.
No phone number was listed for Harris and it was not clear whether he had an attorney in the case. An attorney representing Harris in a federal lawsuit filed by Coram did not respond to an email late Wednesday afternoon.
The federal lawsuit Coram filed against Harris, the city of Jonesboro and the Jonesboro police chief over the assault is expected to go to trial in May 2026. Coram's lawsuit claims his constitutional rights were violated.
In a roughly twelve-minute video, Coram wears a hospital gown and suffocates himself with a seatbelt around his neck while the car is moving. After the car stops, Harris opens the door and punches and elbows Coram in the face several times while unwinding the belt.
Harris later slams the car door into Coram's head. According to the federal lawsuit, Coram was taken to the hospital after ingesting a small bag of fentanyl and ran away from the hospital when he panicked. He had the seat belt wrapped around his neck in an attempt to gag himself to release the fentanyl he believed was still in his system, the lawsuit said.
