‘White Supremacist… Hiding Behind His Badge’: Texas Teen Dragged Out of Car and Violently Arrested While Helping Friend Stuck In Parking Lot Without Gas Sues Cop
It was over an alleged illegal left turn that a Texas cop with a long history of violence pulled a Black teenager out of his car and slammed him to the ground before picking him up and slamming him against the car.
Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Bolin arrested Seth Palumbo on a felony charge of assaulting a police officer – despite video evidence showing it was Bolin assaulting the then 19-year-old high school student.
But a judge dismissed the felony charge just over a week later after finding no probable cause. And the Harris County Sheriff’s Office terminated Bolin eight months later – only for the abusive cop to be rehired by a neighboring law enforcement agency within one week.
Earlier this month, Palumbo, now 20, filed a lawsuit against Bolin and several Harris County sheriff’s deputies over the incident that took place two years ago. Joining him as a plaintiff in the lawsuit is his friend, Kristopher Willis Jr., who was also arrested on a misdemeanor charge.
According to the lawsuit filed in Harris County District Court on April 7 by attorney Terry Henderson Peden:
The deputy that “pulled over” Palumbo, Deputy Bolin, told Palumbo that he had made an illegal turn and asked Palumbo and his passenger for their identification/drivers’ licenses.
The passenger questioned Bolin’s need for his identification and both the passenger and Palumbo observed that this made Bolin very agitated because Bolin then quickly placed handcuffs on Palumbo’s left wrist.
Palumbo immediately asked why he was being arrested and Bolin, nor any of the other deputies on the scene responded.
Bolin then forcefully pulled Palumbo, by the handcuffs, from his vehicle and intentionally bodyslammed him to the ground. Willis also observed Bolin pull Palumbo out of his vehicle and suplex slam him on the ground and then pick Palumbo up and slam his face against his (Palumbo’s) car.
It is the third lawsuit that remains pending against Bolin, who was forced to resign in February from his job as a Harris County Constable after local media questioned the agency on why they would hire such a cop.
Harris County Constable Precinct 2 told ABC 13 they had no idea about Bolin’s past, claiming they did not have access to his prior records — despite the fact a quick Google search would have revealed the applicant to have serious red flags.
Bolin was allowed to resign to avoid termination, Click2Houston reported.
“Injustice was committed by a peace officer, but you sat there and rehired him,” Palumbo told ABC 13.
“I know they had to see the incident, and if we’re hiring people like that to keep the peace, if we are hiring aggressors to keep the peace, how is that ever going to solve anything?”
Watch the video below.
The Arrest
It was April 6, 2023, and Palumbo was weeks away from graduating from Langham Creek High School, where he played for the school’s football team.
Palumbo’s friend and teammate, Kristopher Willis Jr., had just left school but had run out of gas, so he called a friend for help, who was riding as a passenger in Palumbo’s car.
Palumbo and the other teen drove to Willis’ location, where Willis handed them some empty water bottles to fill with gasoline.
But Harris County sheriff’s deputies claimed they observed Palumbo making an illegal left turn, which was when they confronted him.
But rather than write them a citation, five deputies ran up on the car with guns drawn, according to the lawsuit.
Willis’ father, Kristopher Darnell Willis, who was the first to post the videos on Facebook on April 10, posted the following description with the videos:
My son ran out of gas on Thursday after pulling out of Langham Creek High School and his car stopped on FM 529. He called the non-emergency police line. They told him to call a friend for help. He did that.
His friends came and got a container from KJ. On the way to the gas station, they made an illegal turn. This all occurred less than a quarter mile from their school, literally a rock’s throw away.
What you are seeing is the reaction of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office to this traffic violation…video began 20 seconds after first contact. What is not shown is an officer running up to the vehicle GUN DRAWN…with 5, FIVE officers for an illegal turn.
Willis began recording as Bolin was pulling Palumbo out of the car.
“I didn’t do anything!” Palumbo says as Bolin slams him to the ground. “I didn’t do anything, bro! I’m not resisting, bro!”
“You are,” Bolin responds.
Another deputy pulls Willis out of the car and takes his phone, setting it down so that it can continue recording but not capturing the arrest.
However, another witness was recording from a distance and shows Palumbo in handcuffs and in distress, but the deputies order him to back away.
“What am I being arrested for?” Palumbo repeatedly asks as they shove him into a patrol car. “I didn’t do anything.”
“What’s he being arrested for?” the young man recording asks deputies, and one of them says, “I don’t know.”
Another deputy threatens to arrest the witness for interfering if he does not back awa,y even though he appears to be standing at least 20 feet away from the deputies.
“I am writing this because it could have been anyone of your children that happened to be in that place at that time,” Willis’ father wrote on his Facebook post showing the videos, comparing the deputies to the Memphis cops who killed Tyre Nichols in January 2023.
“These officers are no different than the SCORPION Unit in Memphis. They jump out, NO QUESTIONS asked, and began their assault.”
Willis was charged with obstructing a roadway, but that charge was also dismissed.
“Nobody made any attempt to de-escalate the situation as per their policy and treat these young men with any form of humanity,” attorney Peden told ABC 13.
“We’re not going to tolerate this form of Gestapo-type policing of racial discrimination and profiling of Black men.”
The two other pending lawsuits against Bodin were filed in federal court by two other Black men who were also abused by Bodin, Rico McCoy and Alexander Williams.
McCoy was arrested under similar circumstances to Palumbo, where he was ordered out of the car over a minor traffic stop and abused, resulting in the Black man ending up in a hospital with broken teeth and a detached retina, according to the lawsuit.
McCoy was also charged with assault on a police officer and interfering, but those charges were dismissed.
Williams was arrested in 2022 after being confronted outside a convenience store by deputies who accused him of having an expired registration.
Bodin, as usual, became aggressive after confusing Williams, who had his 3-year-old son with him, for another Black man he had a confrontation with in that same parking lot at an earlier date, the lawsuit states.
Williams was charged with interference, but that charge was also dismissed.
Palumbo told local media that the arrest has left him traumatized.
“It’s a very traumatic experience,e what happened and changed my whole outlook on cops,” Palumbo said.
Attorney Peden did not mince words in an email exchange with Atlanta Black Star, referring to Bodin as a “white supremacist and a race soldier hiding behind his badge.”