LOUISIANA, USA — A federal indictment accuses a former Louisiana police officer of kicking an arrested man in the face and head, then lying about it after the man complained to the officer's superiors.
Jared Desadier, 43, was a Monroe police officer when he was arrested in July 2020 on state charges involving Timothy Williams, who sued him and other officers in April.
Neither Desadier’s attorney in that case nor Williams’ attorney immediately responded to an emailed request for comment on the indictment handed up Wednesday by a grand jury in Shreveport.
State charges of second-degree battery and malfeasance in office are pending, with Desadier's next hearing scheduled Tuesday, Ouachita Parish District Attorney Steven Tew said.
The federal charges, which identify Williams only by his initials, are witness tampering and depriving Williams of his constitutional protection from unreasonable seizure.
Desadier “kicked T.W. in the area of his head and face without justification,” injuring him, according to the indictment described in a news release Thursday. The incident “involved the use of a dangerous weapon (a shod foot),” the indictment stated.
When Williams told Desadier's supervisors, Desadier tried to cover up, saying Williams had been injured in a fall, according to the indictment.
If convicted on both counts, Desadier could be sentenced to up to 10 years for the civil rights violation and 20 for witness tampering.
Williams' lawsuit, which also accuses seven other officers of failing to help him or helping to cover up the beating, said he was doing nothing wrong when officers answered an alarm late April 21, 2020.
He said he gave them his identification and everything he was carrying, including “a rose bowl and toy gun,” but then ran “due to the fear of losing his life with the recent police brutality happenings.”
The lawsuit doesn't specify what those “happenings” were. Williams' arrest was nearly a month before a Minneapolis officer killed George Floyd by kneeling on his throat. In March 2020, police in Louisville, Kentucky, had killed Breonna Taylor in a raid on her apartment.
Desadier and another officer saw him running, followed him and ordered him to stop. Williams immediately did so, put his hands up, then lay down with his hands behind his back, according to the lawsuit.
Desadier ran up and kicked him, knocking out at least one tooth, then punched him in the body and grabbed his hair, pounding his head into the concrete, the lawsuit alleged.