Madison officer pleads not guilty to assaulting Indian man
Eric Parker, Madison police officer recommended for termination after the incident involving Sureshbhai Patel on Feb. 6 (Photo: Limestone County Sheriff's Office)
LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. – The Madison Police officer accused of assaulting and severely injuring a 57-year-old Indian man has pleaded not guilty to third-degree assault.
Tuesday, attorneys for Eric Parker filed paperwork to waive his arraignment and enter a not guilty plea. Parker is scheduled for a bench trial on April 29.
The incident took place the morning of Friday, February 6. A neighbor called police about a suspicious man walking in the neighborhood and dispatchers sent two officers there. Click here to listen to the call.
Two officers, one of them Parker, spotted Patel on the sidewalk. They got out of the patrol car and walked up to him. In the audio, the officers asked Patel for ID, then asked his name. “Do you live here?” the officers asked. “What’s your address?” and Patel pointed at something. The language barrier became apparent, because Patel does not speak English. The officers then asked Patel not to jerk away. An officer repeated that, and soon afterward, Patel was thrown down.
goodness for the dash-cam which recorded, "He don't speak a lick o' English." (Apparently,
that officer also could use some English lessons.)
The officers reported an "older Indian man," too. So, they knew he was not a 30-year-old
"skinny black guy," like the racist neighbor had reported and who they were supposed to
be only checking out and not paralyzing. So, one wonders what kind of law enforcement
culture there is in Alabama, when three young police officers triple-team an elderly Indian
man who can't speak English and does not fit the description of the person they were called
out to find and then decide to break his neck.
For more information on this incident, and to watch dash cam video released by Madison Police, click here.
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