New Complaint Against Hutchinson County Deputy Is A Troubling Trend

A complaint has recently been filed against a Hutchinson County deputy for excessive use of force against a 17-year-old male.

On the evening of Friday, June 3rd, Marcus Aguilera was pulled over at the intersection of Cedar and Lee in Borger, Texas for unknown reasons by Deputy Micah Adamson. Aguilera was given several citations and called his mother, Irasema Perez, who arrived on scene shortly thereafter.

According to Perez, as the deputy explained the reason for the stop, her son protested that it was not the reason he had been given.

"My son got upset and called him a liar, among other names--which I do not condone," said Perez. "The deputy got upset and ran to my son and automatically pulled out the taser gun and fired it."

All four prongs were deployed from the deputy's taser and struck the teenager's leg and abdomen.

Perez went on to explain that "When more deputies and officers got there, the deputy who tased my son claimed that my son resisted arrest and that my son threatened him."

According to Perez, she and two friends were present for the incident and all strongly dispute Deputy Adamson's claim that the teenager had threatened him and resisted arrest.

In fact, according to Perez, her son, and the witnesses present on the scene, there was no arrest for Aguilera to resist.

Preliminary reports from sources say that bodycam footage shows that Adamson deployed the taser well after the stop was concluded. Witnesses stated that the deputy was in his patrol car and exited the vehicle to approach the teenager--who had his hands in his pockets--and fired the taser.

Witness from the scene and sources who have viewed the bodycam footage have given similar descriptions of Deputy Adamson as the aggressor. He reportedly continued to display aggression even as EMS services were called for the wounded teenager.

We have made a request to obtain a copy of the bodycam footage from the night of June 3, 2022.

(As of 6/14/2022 3:45pm Our request for the bodycam footage has been denied, citing an open investigation. As per the Public Information guidelines set forth by the Attorney General, a request for video can be denied when it is a criminal matter. The editor asked if it the investigation was indeed a criminal one and has yet to receive a response. Irasema Perez also submitted a written request for the bodycam video and has yet to receive a response from officials. This will be updated when a response is received.)

(As of 6/16/2022 3:22pm Irasema Perez has been contacted by law enforcement via phone and informed that once the bodycam footage has been reviewed, it will be released to her. We have not yet received a response to our previous requests.)

According to Perez, the teenager had never encountered Deputy Adamson or any other HSCO deputies before that incident. She has since filed a complaint against the deputy with Hutchinson County Sheriff's Office.

"When I went to file the complaint, the Sheriff himself apologized for what happened. I'm not sure what--if anything--is going to happen now."

Perez filed her complaint on June 8. A brief listen to the Hutchinson County police scanner as of June 11 indicated that Adamson was out working his usual shift.

As of this writing, we have been unable to contact Sheriff Blaik Kemp for comment. We will provide an update if we are able to obtain a statement.

Deputy Adamson has previously been linked to an August 2021 incident where he deployed his taser with an uncooperative suspect at a McDonalds in Borger, as seen in the video below.

He was an officer with Borger Police Department at the time and his actions in relation to the incident were found to be justified.

The recent complaint and allegations against Deputy Adamson come on the heels of another incident involving excessive force and a HSCO deputy. In February 2022 it came to light that former Deputy Brian Earls had been fired in relation to his alleged assault of an individual who was handcuffed and seated in the backseat of the patrol car of his wife, Stinnett Police Chief Corisa Earls. Brian Earls was not on duty at the time of the incident and it is unknown why he was present.

(Update as of 6/14/2022 6:35pm When the initial story involving both Earls was published, Corisa Earls sought out the personal Facebook profile of the author despite having numerous ways to contact him on his professional platform available and sent a message that was termed inappropriate for the author to engage in. The message was forwarded to the Editor, who recognized and understood the need to afford Corisa Earls the opportunity to be heard. The Editor made several attempts to connect with Corisa Earls and expressed a desire to give Earls the dignity of an interview or statement--the offer was declined once and ignored another time. The Editor also wishes to express that she remains a neutral and uninvolved party that is receptive to concerns and proof of error, should the desire to do so arise)

In the case of Brian Earls, the Texas Rangers conducted an internal investigation. As of this writing, it is unknown if the Texas Rangers will investigate the complaint of Irasema Perez.

These two incidents, closely grouped together in time, stand out in stark contrast when compared to the lack of complaints regarding neighboring agency Borger Police Department.

The culture of law enforcement is one that is close-knit and resistant to outsiders. Much of this exclusiveness is rooted in the nature of the profession as well as the personalities of those who are drawn to the occupation.

The argument can be made that in order to preserve the integrity of law enforcement as a whole, the presence of ethical and public-minded leaders is needed. When there are no such leaders to maintain the fine line that LEO must walk, the dynamic easily devolves into a Machiavellian power struggle between LEO and the citizens they are sworn to protect.

Obtaining answers as to what will come from the complaints filed by Irasema Perez and witnesses will be contingent on an internal review by appropriate authorities. But regardless of the outcome, one thing to take note of is this: the culture of an agency is governed by its leader. And it is only sensible that we look to the leader for answers.

What will happen from here? There's one person who can decide.