San Marcos cop faces felony rap for assaulting woman during illegal arrest

A San Marcos police officer could face up to life in prison for allegedly slamming a woman to the ground causing her to lose two teeth and suffer a concussion during the course of what department brass call an illegal arrest on May 29.

Cpl. James Palermo, 40, was arrested on Tuesday and booked in the Hays County jail on a charge of aggravated assault by a public servant, a first degree felony punishable by five years to life in prison. On paid administrative leave since June 10, Palermo faces ”indefinite suspension” without pay following an internal investigation and a disciplinary hearing expected to be conducted next week, Chief Howard E. Williams told the Mercury this evening.

”I won’t prejudge the (internal) investigation. I have not heard what the officer has to say yet and I’ll reserve judgement until that happens,” Williams said. ”But there are standards and I think it’s fairly obvious what we think about his conduct that night in that we were the ones that went down and filed the criminal charges. … I believe what he did was criminal.”

While conducting a traffic stop in the parking lot of the Rooftop on the Square bar at 126 S. Guadalupe St. about 1:10 a.m. May 29, Palermo accosted a 22-year-old Alexis Alpha as she walked by minding her own business, according to an affidavit used to secure arrest warrant filed by San Marcos police Cmdr. Penny Dunn.

full: http://smmercury.com/2013/07/16/san-marcos-cop-faces-felony-rap-for-assaulting-woman-during-illegal-arrest/