A police officer in Galveston, Texas, was terminated from his job after a shocking video showed him beating multiple children and adults at a pool party while he was off duty.
Now, the families of the affected children want that now-former cop, Jared Rivas, arrested and charged.
On June 25, Rivas was involved in an altercation with a group of teens celebrating someone’s birthday party at the Island Bay Resort apartment complex’s pool in Galveston with their parents’ permission.
Rivas was working as a courtesy officer at the apartments that day, according to Fox 26. When he came across the party, he allegedly asked the group to leave the pool area because they didn’t live at the complex. As they were leaving, family attorneys said he carried out an “unprovoked and brutal assault” on the teenagers.
Both bystanders and victims captured the altercation on cellphone video, which shows Rivas punching and kicking the teens and pinning them to the ground.
“They punching on people!” Heidi Williams, a mother of one of the teens is heard yelling in the video.
“He was hitting, just hitting people,” Williams added.
Rivas called for backup during the fight, and when other officers from the Galveston Police Department arrived, they assisted Rivas in detaining the teens.
“They’re traumatized,” parent Heidi Williams said at a news conference. “An officer of the law who the kids are supposed to trust and have faith in and look up to are now harming them and their siblings and friends.”
Lori Lozano, another parent who was also at the party, said Ruiz attacked her 15-year-old and 23-year-old children.
“Every time I think about it, every time somebody brings it up, I get that pit in my stomach,” Lozano said. “It’s terrifying, it really is. I’ve lost a lot of trust in thinking we were safe.”
Lozano’s son, 23-year-old Taylor Alexander, told KTRK in July that he was hit three times and that his little brother was tackled to the ground even though he was complying with Rivas’ orders to leave the complex.
“Rivas yelled for us to stop. My little brother, the youngest, 15, turned and was super compliant, ‘Yes sir,’ at that point, (Rivas) grabs him by the back of the neck and threw him to the ground,” Alexander recalled.
Lozano had a damming characterization of the former officer. “He is a bad apple. He’s a loose cannon and very dangerous,” Lozano told ABC13.
The attorneys for the families involved contacted Island Bay Resort and said that it wasn’t made clear whether visiting families weren’t welcome at the complex.
The families are now seeking legal action against Rivas, the Galveston Police Department, and the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital. They allege that the police force did nothing to stop Rivas’ attack on their children and that hospital staffers refused to treat the victims when they learned they were involved in the attack.
“It wouldn’t be surprising if (Rivas) was picked up by another law enforcement agency, and that’s a concern that we have,” attorney Adalberto Ruiz said. “Despite numerous uniformed officers being able to take control of the situation, they didn’t. They just added to the chaos and confusion.”
Family members are also calling for charges against Rivas, according to KTRK.
The Galveston County District Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing the case to determine if any criminal charges will be filed.
“The investigation of this incident involves many witnesses and several allegations. As with all investigations, our Office will take the time necessary to ensure that the investigation is thorough and conducted properly,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.
