Galveston County woman sues, claims Santa Fe officer held her face in fire ants

HOUSTON – A Houston-area woman has filed a lawsuit against the city of Santa Fe and two members of the Santa Fe Police Department after she claims officers held her face in a pile of fire ants.

In the court document, Taylor Rogers names the City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe Police Sergeant Ruben Espinoza and Officer Christian Carranza as defendants.

According to the lawsuit, Rogers was driving with his son when a Santa Fe ISD police officer began yelling at him to stop. The document claims Rogers suffers from mental illness, panicked and drove the wrong way.

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At one point, Espinoza arrived on scene and crashed into Rogers’ vehicle with her son inside, according to the lawsuit. Officer Carranza also arrived on scene and, according to the document, threw Rogers to the ground and placed him in handcuffs.

The lawsuit alleges that Carranza twisted Rogers’ leg with excessive force, tied her up and buried her face in a pile of fire ants. In the body-worn camera video, the mother can be heard screaming and asking for help because ants are on her face.

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“The ants are on my face, the ants are getting on my face. Please help me,” Rogers can be heard screaming. “How could you do this? The ants are on my face, please let go.”

FOX 26 reached out to the Santa Fe Police Department, who said they could not comment due to pending litigation.

A news conference is expected to be held Saturday where Rogers and community members will discuss the incident.