Veteran Sues Texas Cops Who Beat Him

HOUSTON (CN) - A Texas policeman broke his hand beating an Army veteran senseless, then got the vet jailed for a year on bogus felony assault charges, the veteran claims in court.

Bradford Bates, 52, sued Pasadena police Officers Bryan Kelldorf and Mark Adams in Federal Court Thursday. He seeks punitive damages for the year he lost in jail and for the punches and kicks they delivered while arresting him that broke his nose and concussed him.

Bates' complaint includes credible evidence that he was beaten: his booking photo with dried blood streaked across his forehead from a huge gash above his blackened left eye, his mouth twisted as if cringing at the rest of his face.

Bates says Kelldorf and Adams entered his apartment without a warrant around 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 26, 2014 in response to a call from a woman who said Bates threw a shoe at her.

Bates says they found him asleep on the couch, and woke him up by shining a flashlight in his eyes and yelling at him.

"Mr. Bates, thoroughly confused by the situation, reached out and pinched the pant leg of one of the officers to determine if this was real or a dream. That's when the two began to beat him," the lawsuit states.

"The officers took Bates down to the ground and followed with punches and kicks to Bates's face and head."

Bates says Kelldorf broke his hand beating him and that the officers bloodied his face so badly that jailers refused to book him and said he needed a doctor.

"Adams was told to take Bates to the hospital, where he received stitches for the cuts on his face, as well as other treatment for his broken nose and concussion," the complaint states.

Needing some excuse for the bloodshed, Bates says, Adams wrote in the police report that "Bates 'appeared to strike his face on the arm of the couch on the way down to the ground.'"

Prosecutors charged Bates with misdemeanor assault, for the alleged shoe toss, and misdemeanor resisting arrest.

"A couple months later - after Bates would not agree to plead guilty to resisting arrest and after Kelldorf had surgery on his broken hand - Kelldorf brought a criminal complaint against Bates based on a new story that Bates instead assaulted Kelldorf during the incident," the complaint states.

A grand jury bought Kelldorf's story and Bates was charged with felony assault on a public servant. Bates says he refused to plead guilty and went to trial after a year in jail.

Only Bates and the two officers testified during the two-day trial, Bates says.

"On March 4, 2015, the jury returned a unanimous verdict - Bates was not guilty, and he was finally set free," the lawsuit states.

Bates seeks punitive damages for illegal entry, excessive force, assault and malicious prosecution.

He is represented by Jarod Stewart with Smyser, Kaplan and Veselka.

Pasadena, pop. 133,000, part of greater Houston, is a Hispanic-majority city known for its refineries and strawberry festival. It was named after the California city.

A Pasadena police spokesman was unavailable to comment Friday morning.

Follow @cam_langford

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