DALLAS — Jeremiah Ramos was arrested in October for multiple warrants and taken to the Dallas County jail, but he said the way he was treated during transport was terrifying.
He said two officers approached his home while he was in the front yard and handcuffed him. He said the deputies told him he almost hit them with his truck in a previous encounter, but he told them they were mistaking him for the wrong person. Ramos was taken to the police vehicle.
While in the back seat, handcuffed, Ramos said “[Deputy Austin Palmer] reached for his taser and he turned around and tased me in my stomach. The detectives told me that it looks like he tased me twice, but I really don’t remember it because I blacked out.” He thinks he was tased for about 15 to 20 seconds. It’s been three months since the incident and Ramos still has light marks on his stomach from the taser.
“I just remember shaking in the back seat,” he said.
Ramos also remembered a second deputy, confirmed as Deputy Phillip Koenig, who did not stop Palmer as he continued to threaten him.
“[Palmer] put [the taser] to my throat and then he put it to my privates,” said Ramos. He said the deputy threatened to injure him again if he spoke or moved before they got to the jail.
He wrote a letter to his mother from jail explaining to her what happened the day he was arrested.
Juanita Morales was heartbroken reading the letter from her son.
“'They tased me, mom. They tased me.' He repeated it two to three times in the letter and he said for no reason. He said that 'I promise, Mama, I wasn’t doing anything,'” said Morales.
She did what she could to protect her son and reported the incident to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department.
On Thursday, Palmer was arrested on a charge of official oppression and assault.
Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown held a press conference on Friday saying it is important to police the department, and that they had to arrest one of their own.
Ramos and Morales are thankful that the Sheriff’s Department took action to arrest Palmer.
His partner, Deputy Koenig, is on desk duty pending an investigation with Internal Affairs. When a taser is deployed, deputies are required to report it, but no reports were filed in October after the incident. When this complaint was filed, Koenig was interviewed by deputies and he corroborated Ramos’ statements. Meanwhile, Palmer asked for an attorney.
Palmer is on paid leave, but will face a private hearing in the coming weeks where his job status will be determined.