San Antonio Express-News

By Elizabeth Zavala,Senior Reporter

November 7, 2024

A federal jury has awarded $7 million to a San Antonio man left paralyzed from a police beating after he was mistaken for the wrong man.

The decision Thursday morning came more than 10 years after Rogelio “Roger” Carlos III was tackled, kicked and punched by San Antonio police who were in pursuit of someone else. 

Three San Antonio police officers — an undercover officer identified only as Detective John Doe, and SWAT officers Carlos Chavez and Virgilio Gonzalez — tackled Carlos to the ground, believing he was the person they were chasing on May 20, 2014.

Carlos had been taking pictures of a site under construction for his family’s pediatric clinic at Westover Hills and Rogers Road near Highway 151 on the far West Side when the officers rode up in their vehicles, chasing another man. 

His lawyer, Philip G. Bernal, who led a large team of attorneys on his client’s behalf, argued that the 2014 beating caused the medical issues that led to Carlos’ paralysis. 

The attorney for the defendants, Clarissa M. Rodriguez, who also led a large team of lawyers for the officers, argued that Carlos had a degenerative disc disease and a shoulder injury from his job that led to his medical issues. She said it was those were pre-existing conditions and not her clients’ actions that were responsible for what happened to Carlos. 

Carlos had surgery more than a year after the assault to alleviate pain he continued to suffer after the incident. A complication during that procedure left him a quadriplegic in 2015. He has struggled to regain some movement in his arms and hands, but cannot feel anything from mid-chest down, he said.

His attorneys argued that if the officers had not injured him, he wouldn’t be in a wheelchair today.

A federal jury in April found that Doe and Chavez had used excessive force, violating Carlos’ civil rights, and that their actions were not covered by qualified immunity, a legal principle that shields officers from civil lawsuits. 

Although Gonzalez was sued along with the other officers and accused of using excessive force, the jury found that he did not go beyond the legal limits in his encounter with Carlos.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, who presided over both trials, had split the proceedings into two parts: liability and damages. 

This trial was held to decide how much, if any, damages were owed to Carlos. 

The trial over damages began Oct. 28, and the jury spent nearly two weeks listening to Carlos’ journey, from being an athletically active husband, a father of three boys and his employment as a Fleet Service worker for American Airlines, to becoming paralyzed. He now lives with his older sister, Christina Carlos-Roberson, who cares for her brother 24 hours a day.

One eyewitness to the incident testified that Carlos was tackled from behind “like a quarterback” in a football game.  He drove himself to the hospital that day. After, he continued seeing doctors and getting injections for the pain in his back, up until surgery was suggested as an option.

The panel also spent several days listening to physicians discuss the mechanics of the neck and spine, and the intricacies involved in treating injuries in the bones, muscles, tendons and nerves in those areas.

Vocational experts testified about which abilities Carlos still has, and which types of jobs he could get.