A police officer in Galveston, Texas, was fired after a video showed him beating several children and adults at a pool party while off duty.
Now the families of the affected children are demanding that former police officer Jared Rivas be arrested and charged.
On June 25, Rivas was involved in an altercation with a group of teenagers who were celebrating a birthday party at the pool of the Island Bay Resort apartment complex in Galveston with their parents’ permission.
According to Fox 26, Rivas was working as a busboy at the apartments that day. When he came across the party, he allegedly asked the group to leave the pool area because they were not staying at the complex. As they left, he launched an “unprovoked and brutal attack” on the teens, according to the family’s attorneys.
Both passersby and victims filmed the altercation on their cell phones. Rivas can be seen hitting, kicking and pushing the teenagers to the ground.
Rivas called for backup during the fight, and when additional Galveston Police officers arrived, they helped Rivas arrest the teens.
“They are traumatized,” said mother Heidi Williams at a press conference. “A law enforcement officer that the children should trust and look up to is now harming them and their siblings and friends.”
Lori Lozano, another mother who was also at the party, said Ruiz attacked her 15- and 23-year-old children.
“Every time I think about it, every time someone brings it up, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach,” Lozano said. “It’s awful, it really is. I’ve lost a lot of faith in the idea that we’re safe.”
Lozano’s son, 23-year-old Taylor Alexander, told KTRK in July that he was hit three times and his little brother was thrown to the ground despite complying with Rivas’s requests to leave the complex.
“Rivas screamed for us to stop. My little brother, the youngest, 15, turned around and was super successful: ‘Yes, sir’, at that moment (Rivas) grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground,” Alexander recalled.
Lawyers for the affected families contacted Island Bay Resort and said it had not been made clear whether visiting families were not welcome at the resort.
The families now plan to take legal action against Rivas, the Galveston Police Department and the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital. They claim police did nothing to stop Rivas’ attack on their children and hospital staff refused to treat the victims when they learned they were involved in the attack.
“It would not be surprising if (Rivas) had been picked up by another law enforcement agency, and that is a concern we have,” said attorney Adalberto Ruiz. “Although numerous uniformed officers could have brought the situation under control, they did not. They only contributed to chaos and confusion.”
According to KTRK, family members are also calling for charges to be brought against Rivas.
The Galveston County District Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing the case to determine whether charges will be filed.
“The investigation into this incident involves many witnesses and multiple allegations. As with all investigations, our office will take the time necessary to ensure the investigation is conducted thoroughly and properly,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
