Darren Hunt, the KVIA-News 7 reporter who was roughed up and arrested by an El Paso police officer while covering an accident on Interstate-10 in April, has filed a $450,000 claim against the city and the Police Department.
In the administrative claim, which may precede the filing of a lawsuit against the city in state court, Hunt is seeking $300,000 in punitive damages and $150,000 in actual damages.
Hunt could not be reached for comment, but KVIA News Director Brenda DeAnda confirmed that the station had been notified of Hunt’s claim and reassigned him from covering City Hall to county government as a result.
“We have moved him to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest until the issue is resolved,” she said Friday. “Darren has a right to file the claim if he feels like it. But at the same time, we didn’t want to put Darren or the station in a difficult situation.”
KVIA, she said, is not involved in Hunt’s action against the city.
“He’s doing it independently from the station,” DeAnda said. “Everything we know has been reported.”
Asked if Hunt was injured in the incident, she said, “I can’t speak about that. I have no knowledge.”
Hunt and photographer Ric DuPont had parked a News-7 truck on the inside shoulder of the I-10 eastbound lanes to interview witnesses and shoot video at the scene of an overturned 18-wheel tractor trailer blocking the westbound lanes when then police Sgt. Raul Ramirez began ordering them to leave.
In an encounter recorded by DuPont that wound up being seen by millions on the Internet, Ramirez climbed over the barrier between the lanes and quickly became irate because the two journalists were not moving quickly enough as he ordered them again and again to leave.
Threatening Hunt with arrest, Ramirez pushed Hunt against the hood of their vehicle, told him that he was being arrested and twisted his arms behind him to place him in handcuffs as Hunt repeatedly said, “I’m not doing anything!”
About 30 seconds elapsed from the time Ramirez crossed the fence until he had his hands on Hunt and told him he was under arrest.
Ramirez also arrested DuPont and the two were taken to the Westside Substation where the commanding officer ordered them released without charges after watching the video and hearing the journalists’ accounts.
The 19-year police veteran, whose actions were later described as excessive by Police Chief Greg Allen, was demoted to patrol officer weeks later as a result of his actions during a disturbance involving students near Franklin High School in November 2008.
“The sergeant appeared to be over-reactive in a situation where the supervising officer should have been in control of the situation,” Allen said of Ramirez at an El Paso Press Club event. “I’m not saying the officer did anything totally wrong. I think we had an aggravated situation.”
Ramirez has been assigned to desk duty since the April incident pending the outcome of an police Internal Affairs investigation.
Asked about the status of the investigation recently, police spokesman Officer Chris Mears said the Internal Affairs inquiry has been delayed because neither Hunt nor DuPont has come in to be interviewed about the incident.
DeAnda said Hunt lodged a complaint against Ramirez and has provided the Police Department with a written statement.
“I spoke with the investigators recently, and they said they were just about to wrap it up,” she said.
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To reach David Crowder, write to dcrowder@epmediagroup.com or call (915) 351-0605, ext. 30, or 630-6622.
