JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Newly released surveillance video obtained by First Coast News reportedly shows a troubled JSO officer beating a handcuffed teen in the back of his patrol car last year.
Officer Timothy James was arrested last June for the incident. He was called for back-up by a JSO patrol sergeant at a gas station around the 1900 block of Atlantic Boulevard around 4 a.m. regarding two teens, a 17-year-old and 18-year-old, who were wanted in another jurisdiction.
Both teens, identified as the Campos brothers, were handcuffed and placed inside of James' patrol vehicle.
In the surveillance video, James is seen in the front of his patrol car, but after the sergeant walks away to verify the warrants against the Campos brothers, something causes James to quickly walk to the back of the vehicle to the Campos brothers.
The patrol car blocks the camera's view of much of the struggle, but the video captures the sergeant first walking back toward James' vehicle, then running.
In a press conference last year, Undersheriff Pat Ivey said one of the suspects initially told the sergeant that James hit one of them, but the sergeant didn't see any evidence of the teen's claim at the time.
While the sergeant is seen verifying the arrest warrant for the Campos brothers, Ivey said the sergeant saw James remove the 17-year-old from the vehicle and threw him on the ground. The video shows the older Campos brother being thrown around by James just as the sergeant arrives.
READ MORE: Officer arrested for beating handcuffed teen
During police questioning, Jesus Campos admitted his younger brother spit at James in the minutes before the physical fight.
The juvenile suspect also told police James was irritated that he would not provide his Social Security number.
On the scene, James was separated from the teens, then questioned by the sergeant regarding the incident.
The 17-year-old's injuries required medical attention on the scene.
James was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery. He was employed with JSO for three years at the time.
What remains unclear, however, was why James was still on patrol during the incident. Two months prior to the battery incident in April 2017, James was recorded by a bystander spitting on a man in front of UF Health. In May 2017, he was also under investigation for hitting and killing a pedestrian with his patrol car.
No charges were filed in either of those two incidents.
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