Roger Carlos, 43, has had to undergo multiple surgeries on his upper spine and his neck to relieve pain and pressure from herniated discs that resulted from his vicious beating by two SWAT officers and a drug task force officer in May 2014.
The assault stemmed from the officers’ pursuit of another man on drug and weapons charges. Instead of their suspect, they found Carlos, a father of three sons under the age of 10, instead.
Carlos, who has no criminal record, was simply outside using his phone to take pictures of his wife's medical practice, KENS5 reported. He has maintained that despite the mistaken identity, he had been complying with police when he was struck over 50 times.
Beyond his spinal and neck injuries, Carlos also had his tooth broken, a large gash cut above his eye and swelling of his skull. A CT scan also recently revealed a previously undiscovered brain aneurysm.
"It's physically disabled him. It's mentally disabled him. He still hasn't since that day been able to get over this incident," his wife Ronnie Carlos told KENS5.
At least the two SWAT officers, Carlos Chavez and Virgilo Gonzalez, remain employed with the SWAT team. The drug task force officer has never been publicly identified due to confidentiality issues with his position.
A GoFundMe fundraising campaign has been set up to help offset some of Carlos’ medical costs. So far, $13,649 has been raised in two weeks by 138 donors.
