A former Indianapolis police sergeant on Monday pleaded guilty to a civil rights charge for stomping on the head of a man who had been arrested and restrained, federal prosecutors said.
Eric Huxley, 44, was indicted in October on one count of deprivation of rights under color of law in the Sept. 24, 2021, incident.
Huxley, who had been a police sergeant, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, but sentencing guidelines typically play a role and sentencing is up to judge. A sentencing date has not been set as of Monday.
“This police officer violently and callously assaulted a homeless man who posed no threat,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement.
Body camera video released by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department showed the man being arrested, Jermaine Vaughn, handcuffed and on his back when he is kicked in the face.
Police had been called on a disorderly person complaint at Monument Circle when Vaughn was handcuffed by other officers and restrained, when Huxley “intentionally raised his right foot and drove it down onto J.V.’s “ head and face,” the Justice Department said.
Huxley’s attorney, John Kautzman, declined to comment until after sentencing.
