Teen Suspect Seen Beaten by Police in Video

HOUSTON - It is the surveillance video that everyone is talking about but few people have seen, but there is no argument that eight Houston police officers have been relieved of duty, accused of beating a teen suspect.

Mayor Annise Parker says the Houston Police Department has placed seven officers and one sergeant on paid suspension during an investigation into the alleged beating of 15-year-old suspect Chad Holley that was captured on a surveillance video from a private business.

Sources tell FOX 26 News that management staff at Uncle Bob's Self Storage wanted to know how the building's fence was damaged -- that is when they scanned through the surveillance video and also saw what took place on March 24.

FOX 26 News has also learned that two employees of the storage facility on Cook Road witnessed what they thought was excessive force against a suspect that they say was not resisting arrest.

A woman who lives nearby also believes she saw part of what happened that day.

"He was running like this here and he fell down sideways. He tried to get up and he couldn't. He hollered, 'Ow!,' and that's when I backed up and went back into my house because I wasn't sure if he was shot or what. I was just scared."

That is all she saw. She would not leave the protection of her home again that day. She is still nervous about that and asked that FOX 26 not reveal her identity.

Management at Uncle Bob's Self Storage learned from the surveillance video that a Houston Police Department car had crashed into the fence but police never reported the damage to the storage business operators.

Upon viewing the video, the storage facility managers realized that the video also showed the officers beating the suspect.

FOX 26 has also learned that the suspect who was beaten was a juvenile younger than 17 years old.

The beating that was captured on video took place on March 24 outside the storage facility on Cook Road in west Houston.

Other sources tell FOX 26 that the officers involved were part of the Westside Tactical Unit. The HPD Westside Command Station is approximately three miles away from the Uncle Bob's Storage location.

Community activist Quanell X says he saw the video and says it shows one man subdued, handcuffed and bent over the trunk of a patrol car. Quanell X also says the video show the suspect being punched and kicked in the face followed by the officers exchanging 'high fives' with one another.

The activist says he met with HPD Chief Charles McClelland about this incident two weeks ago, adding the department has a copy of the surveillance video.

Mayor Parker says HPD and the Harris County District Attorney's Office is investigating the alleged beating.

"I want to thank the citizen who forwarded their security tape to us so that we had evidence for the investigation," says Mayor Parker.

"There is a full police and DA investigation going on. It is a criminal investigation. Seven officers and a sergeant have been relieved of duty. We take it very seriously and we are going to get to the bottom of it."

FOX 26 has filed an Open Records request in an attempt to obtain that videotape.

FOX 26 has learned that the officers relieved of duty include Sgt. John W. McClellan, who has been with HPD since May 1972, along with Officer Raad M. Hassan, Officer Waleed M. Hassan, Officer Philip N. Bryan, Office Drew W. Ryser, Officer Andrew T. Blomberg, Officer Gaudencio Saucedo and Senior Police Officer Lewis M. Childress, a 21-year HPD veteran.