EDINBURG - A Donna police sergeant went before a judge Tuesday morning on police brutality charges after allegedly firing pepper spray on a 17-year-old inmate last week.
George Novelo, 44, was arraigned before Hidalgo County Justice of the Peace Bobby Contreras on charges of assault, oppression and violating the civil rights of a person in custody.
All three counts are class A misdemeanor charges, and if convicted, Novelo could receive up to one year in prison and up to $4,000 in fees for each.
A probable cause affidavit shows Hidalgo County Sheriff's investigators believe Novelo had no just cause to spray Donna high school student Jonathan Morales three times while he sat in jail last week.
Donna police had turned over surveillance video of the attack to the sheriff's office, which obtained statements from witnesses and physical evidence to corroborate the incident.
Donna school district police arrested Morales last week for fighting on the high school campus, Sheriff Lupe Trevino said.
And district police handed the teen over into the city police department's custody pending an arraignment.
The sheriff said Novelo became aggravated with the student inmate after he reportedly took a Styrofoam cup to cover the surveillance camera in his holding cell.
Investigators believe the teen was "mouthing off" when Novelo entered the cell to remove the cup but never physically threatened the sergeant.
"He was being passive physically, but verbally was a nuisance," Trevino said.
The surveillance video shows the sergeant spraying Morales in the face with pepper spray and leaving him "there to fend himself," Trevino said.
"The kid is jumping around, wiping his eyes trying to clean his eyes off, stars kicking on the door -- it's all obviously out of frustration because he can't help," the sheriff said.
"The inmate doesn't find any sort of relief for his pain, so he walks over to the toilet commode and reaches in and gets water and washes his face with it."
Donna Police Chief Ruben "Ram" De Leon deferred comment on the matter to Trevino, who said while police regularly use pepper spray to combat rowdy suspects, it should only be used after physical threats.
He also said once the subject is subdued, the officer has a responsibility to help relieve the damage caused from the spray.
"In my opinion, that is probably one of the most egregious forms of police brutality I have ever witnessed," the sheriff said.
His public integrity unit and Texas Rangers are currently conducting an administrative investigation on the suspect.
Novelo's bond was set at $30,000.
