Officer indicted for punching suspect

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A Travis County grand jury has indicted former Austin police officer Johnnie Wooldridge on official oppression charges after Wooldridge admited he handcuffed and punched a man while off duty.

Wooldridge was fired from his job with the Austin Police Department last January, shortly after the incident. At the time of the incident, Wooldridge was not wearing his uniform and didn't show the suspect any kind of police identification when he apprehended him.

According to APD's disciplinary memo, Wooldridge was driving through his apartment complex when he spotted a man he believed had escaped from custody the prior month. After a scuffle with the man, Wooldridge placed the man in handcuffs and took him into the apartment complex office, where Wooldridge seated the man in a chair.

Wooldridge claimed the man made racially derogatory statements to him and then spit in his face. Wooldridge admitted he then punched the man in the face.

"We don't tolerate people punching handcuffed prisoners without just cause," said Chief Art Acevedo, Austin Police Department.

Wooldridge has not been arrested yet but he official oppression indictment means this former cop could spend up to a year in jail and face a $4,000 fine.