Internal affairs probe clears El Paso officer seen stomping on arrested man’s bare feet in video

EL PASO, Texas -- An El Paso officer seen on video stomping on the bare feet of a man in police custody utilized "necessary and reasonable" force that was within departmental guidelines, according to internal affairs officials who said Friday that their probe into the case was now closed.

The video of the struggle was taken by ABC-7 in front of the El Paso Police Department’s Central Command Center in downtown El Paso around 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday. EPPD's internal affairs unit launched their review earlier this week after ABC-7 shared the video with police officials.

In the video, a man under arrest and handcuffed - and now identified by police as 37-year-old Juan Manuel Valero - was on the ground and struggling with police. He appeared to have his legs wrapped around an officer's leg. Then, the officer seemingly stomps on the man's bare feet, repeatedly.

A short time later in the video, the officer is able to break-free and then appears to kick Valero with his foot. As officers try to restrain Velro on the ground, he begins to kick at them.

After several more moments - and with the help of several other officers and the use of a taser - Valero is finally taken into the command center.

"After reviewing the case report and close examination of the video, it has been determined that the use of force was necessary and reasonable; the officer’s actions depicted in the video were within departmental policy and further investigation is unwarranted," wrote Sgt. Enrique Carillo in a statement.

Police said the night of the videotaped struggle in front of the police station followed Valero's arrest for allegedly "punching his 73-year-old mother while scuffling with three witnesses who went to her aid."

Valero remained held in the downtown jail Friday on nearly $80,000 bond on charges including aggravated robbery, injury to an elderly person and assault of a public servant.