DALLAS, Texas — A Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedic terminated almost two years ago after a video of him kicking and punching a homeless man in 2019 surfaced has won his job back following a hearing at city hall last week.
A 19-year department veteran, Brad Cox, was reinstated by an administrative law judge's ruling but was demoted. He will not receive any lost wages for the time he was terminated.
The city of Dallas can appeal the decision, but Cox would still be able to work while that appeal is underway. It's not clear yet if city officials will make that move.
Cox was a driver/engineer but is now a fire rescue officer. His appeal to get his job back has been a long road that began after he was fired in October 2021.
A spokesperson for the department told WFAA that any employee returning after an extended absence from active employment must complete "refresher training" so that they're clear to return to duty.
"All new and returning Dallas Fire-Rescue members must go through a medical director-driven enhanced 40-hour EMS boot camp, de-escalation training, and mental health training to ensure operational readiness," said Public Information Officer Jason Evans.
Dallas Fire Fighters Association President Jim McDade said Cox had already begun that process and called Cox's reinstatement a win for rank and file.
"When he was terminated two years ago, I 100% didn't agree with going down that route," McDade said. "The media took a snippet of this incident and didn't look at the totality of the situation. The question it raised amongst the department was, if you're put in a situation where you are attacked, what do you do to defend yourself?"
Self-defense was the focal point of Cox's appeal.
On Aug. 2nd, 2019, he and firefighters responded to the frontage road along I-30 in a western area of Dallas near Lone Star Drive, where police were told that Kyle Vess had started several small fires.
Cox told police when they arrived at the scene that he was stomping out some of the fire when Vess attacked him, and he defended himself by kicking and punching Vess.
"He got up, and he started charging," Cox told a law enforcement officer on body camera footage.
But when officers start taking Vess into custody, body camera footage shows Cox telling Vess to get up. Vess moves toward Cox with his arm, and then Cox kicks him in the head and punches him as Vess gets to his feet.
Vess is shocked by a taser and is then arrested. In his jail photo, he can be seen with bruises and cuts to his face. Cox has previous experience as an MMA fighter, WFAA has reported.
According to police public integrity documents of the incident, "Vess had a black eye to his right eye, bloody nose, multiple fractures to his face and a swollen right ankle."
He was charged with assaulting a public servant, but the charges were eventually dropped. Members of the Dallas Police Department investigated the incident but declined to charge Cox with anything.
A grand jury also chose not to indict Cox for any charges related to the incident last year, including injury to a disabled person.
Vess' family wound up suing the city of Dallas and Cox -- litigation that is still making its way through the courts. His family alleges that Vess has a mental illness and suffered a traumatic brain injury before the incident.
McDade told WFAA that hostile incidents occur regularly with homeless individuals or the general public and that standard operating procedures allow department members to defend themselves.
"If you defend yourself, are you now subject to determination? Just because the media gets a hold of it and boils it down to a snippet of a clip? He continued to hit paramedics as he rolled into the hospital. Our number one goal is to get home to our families at the end of the day," said McDade.
George Milner III represented Vess in his criminal case until it was dismissed and provided an entirely different perspective when he was told Cox could return to work.
"I was stunned when I heard what happened. I was like, did anyone watch that video?" Milner said. "He doesn't have the cleanest past either."
In 2016, Cox and another firefighter were investigated for an incident involving another homeless man named Hirschell Fletcher.
Dallas police called paramedics to the scene. On his dash camera video, the officer says, "You have DFR coming. This guy has a head injury."
But, according to court documents, when paramedics arrived, they "assumed [Fletcher] was drunk and began harassing and openly laughing at him as Fletcher sat on the sidewalk in pain."
In the dash camera video obtained by WFAA, you can hear them laughing as Fletcher tries to spell his name in the background. It was used as evidence in the case.
"My eyes are burning," said Fletcher, as the paramedics laugh at him.
According to court documents, Fletcher has schizophrenia and a speech impediment. A Dallas police report stated he had just been robbed, "assaulted, and punched in the head, causing him to fall and hit his head on a wall."
Fletcher was taken to jail instead of the hospital for treatment. Court records show he died of a "slow brain bleed caused by head injuries."
The paramedics were not held criminally responsible for his death but were indicted for "falsifying a report to cover up his failure to render aid at the scene." Cox, ultimately, pleaded guilty and received 12 months' probation.
To this day, Milner thinks Cox's use of force in Vess' case was unnecessary.
"He had no justification to kick him like that -- there were police officers right there; they could handle it. It's their show. A reduction in rank wasn't appropriate, he should have been terminated. This guy doesn't need to be out there; it's a miracle he didn't kill him," Milner said.
But McDade thinks what Cox has gone through is enough, adding that his lost wages are estimated at just around $200,000 for nearly two years if you consider potential overtime.
"Mr. Vess attacked Brad, and then he had to defend himself," McDade said. "I'm going to defend myself if someone continues to attack me or my crew."
WFAA requested an interview with Cox through McDade but was respectfully denied due to department protocols.