GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County man says a Georgia State Patrol officer beat him after a traffic stop. But, the officer’s police report tells a different story.
Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh arranged to interview the man Thursday at the Gwinnett County Jail.
The mug shot of Mario Tamayo-Torres showed a man bruised and swollen when he was booked on Sept. 22. He was first taken to Gwinnett Medical Center following a traffic stop for a broken tail light on Indian Trail Road.
From inside a holding cell at the jail he told Kavanaugh in Spanish his nose is fractured and his entire face aches.
He says he obeyed the Georgia State Patrol officer who asked him to step out of the car when Tamayo-Torres, an undocumented immigrant, couldn’t present a license. Tamayo-Torres says he turned to tell his passenger to call his brothers and tell them he was going to jail because he didn't have a license. He says that’s the last thing he remembers.
In the police report, the officer describes a different story. "He pulled away from me and began running,” he wrote. "I executed a leg sweep to stop the driver from fleeing...driver fell to the pavement; striking the left side of his face on the pavement."
Tamayo-Torres told Kavanaugh no one ever tripped him because he never ran.
The officer said once on the ground, Tamayo-Torres “resisted me by moving his right arm around in a violent motion."
The officer says he continued "utilizing loud verbal commands and pain compliance techniques in the form of closed fist hand strikes to the right side and lower back of the driver."
The officer noted he too was checked out at the hospital, but didn't specify the extent of his own injuries.
Tamayo-Torres was charged with several misdemeanors, including obstruction and driving without a license.
Tamayo-Torres says those driving here without a license, the undocumented, should be careful.
Tamayo-Torres says he would be able to accept what happened to him if he was caught running, but he insists he wasn’t.
Georgia State Patrol says they are also reviewing the officer's use of force, which they say is standard.
Tamayo-Torres says his next scheduled court date is one week from Thursday.
WSBTV
