Texas woman sues city over dozens of fire ant bites while she was handcuffed

SANTA FE, Texas — A woman covered in insect bites after she said police handcuffed her and held her down in a bed of fire ants has filed a lawsuit against the city of Santa Fe.

Police say there’s more to the story.

Warning: Some people may find the images below in this story disturbing

The lawsuit stems from the 2021 arrest of Taylor Rogers by the Santa Fe Police Department.

“Taylor Rogers was arrested by Santa Fe police for no reason, thrown to the ground in a bed of fire ants in the middle of the day, and then held there screaming,” civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen said at the time. of a press conference on Saturday. .

Police body camera footage shared with KHOU 11 News by Kallinen shows part of Rogers’ arrest before it was interrupted. She was on the ground, handcuffed, when she started screaming.

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

She was handcuffed and couldn’t shoo the ants away and she said the police didn’t do it for her.

Kallinen shared images showing Rogers covered in fire ant bites on her face, neck, chest and shoulders.

“Is this torture?” Yes, that’s a strong word, but I call it torture,” Kallinen said. “When the police hold you in a bed of fire ants and you say fire ants and you scream, and they hold you there, what is that?”

Rogers said it all happened in front of his 9-year-old son who was in the back seat of his vehicle.

In a prepared statement, Rogers said the officers demonstrated an “absence of human empathy and compassion.”

Santa Fe ISD Police Chief Ruben Espinoza said he arrested Rogers that day because she tried to turn illegally into the school parking lot. Espinoza said Rogers became enraged, ignored him and walked toward the back parking lot. He said another officer tried to arrest him.

“When she (the officer) gave the description of the vehicle, I immediately knew who it was. So I approached the intersection and saw Ms. Rogers running away,” said Espinoza said. “She was also passing a vehicle in the grassy area on the right side when I tried to get in front of her to stop. She did not put her vehicle in reverse and fled in front of me.”

Rogers said she didn’t stop because she was afraid after the officer hit her vehicle and pointed a gun at her. She said she didn’t know what to do because her son was in the car.

That’s when Espinoza said he used his car to stop Rogers and SFPD officers took her out of the vehicle and handcuffed her.

The police chief shared footage of Rogers’ arrest, saying no fire ant nests were visible.

He said the body camera video shared by Kallinen was misleading and that Rogers was treated with “respect and dignity.”

“They stopped the clip that they gave you. The officer said, ‘Calm down and we’ll get you back up,'” Espinoza said. “At that point she said, ‘OK, I’ll calm down,’ and they immediately picked her up.”

According to Espinoza, Rogers later pleaded guilty to charges related to fleeing police. Kallinen said she was given a deferred judgment.

The officers involved were found to have acted appropriately, according to Kallinen. As part of his suit, Rogers is demanding that officers be disciplined and wants additional de-escalation training for the department.

“While I forgive these police officers for their actions that day, I refuse to remain silent in the face of a violation of the civil rights of my son and mine,” Rogers said.

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