A former Arkansas police officer, 29-year-old Joseph Tucker Harris, has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault after a video surfaced showing him beating a handcuffed inmate in the back of his patrol car. Harris was also charged with filing a false report and misdemeanor third-degree battery. He was released on $15,000 bond after being taken into custody.
The incident occurred when Harris, then a Jonesboro Police Officer, was captured on his patrol car camera physically assaulting detainee Billy Lee Coram, who was handcuffed and being transferred from a local hospital back to jail in Craighead County. Harris was subsequently fired in August following the release of the video footage.
In the video, Coram, who was wearing a hospital gown, can be seen choking himself with a seatbelt wrapped around his neck while the car was in motion. Harris is shown opening the car door and repeatedly punching and elbowing Coram in the face as he removes the belt. Harris then forcefully slams the car door against Coram's head.
Coram, who had ingested a baggie of fentanyl and fled from the hospital in a panic, had attempted to gag himself with the seatbelt to dislodge the substance he believed was still in his system, according to the federal lawsuit he filed against Harris, the city of Jonesboro, and the police chief. The lawsuit alleges that Coram's constitutional rights were violated during the incident.
The federal lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in May 2026. Harris has not provided a statement, and it remains unclear if he has legal representation in the case. An attorney representing Harris in the federal lawsuit did not respond to inquiries.
