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Who is Bert Dillow? Texas sheriff who punched boy, 16, was probed in 2002 custody death similar to George Floyd

In 2002, Dillow and two other officers had responded to a Baytown, Texas, EMS call for a man called Luis Torres who later died in custody

HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: A Texas sheriff deputy is currently under investigation after he was caught on camera threatening to beat a teenager boy before proceeding to physically assault him by punching him in the head. The incident happened last week on Friday in Harris County. A 16-year-old boy called Carlos had pulled into a gas station with a friend, both of them on their ATV bikes. The deputy had then allegedly beelined the ATV for Carlos before asking the teenager for an ID. Things then escalated pretty quickly. 

The video shot by Carlos's friend shows the deputy initially asking the boy to turn around and put his hands behind his back. Carlos can be seen complying, but the boy took a step away, and that made things go awry. Reacting to Carlos, the deputy can be seen grabbing him quickly and yelling, "Don't run from me boy, I will beat your (expletive) right here."

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Who is Bert Dillow?

The Texas deputy who was seen punching Carlos in the video shot by the teen's friend has been identified as Bert Dillow. Baytown police have confirmed Dillow's identity and ABC's local outlet reports that he was investigated in the death of a man who died in police custody back in 2002. 

In the recent video, Dillow can be seen continuing to threaten Carlos as the young boy panics after the first threat. Dillow again yells at Carlos, saying: "Turn around and put your hands behind your back before I beat the (expletive) out of you. Don't be (expletive) stupid." And then the deputy does what he has been threatening Carlos with and squarely punches the teenager in the head. This immediately knocks Carlos to the ground, but the deputy doesn't stop at that. He hands Carlos a few more punches while the two are on the ground and the boy is eventually arrested for evading arrest.

ABC's Miya Shay shared the video on Twitter, writing: "Yesterday, we showed you the disturbing video of a @HCSOTexas deputy punching a teenager. Today, we learned his name is Bert Dillow, and this is not the first time he’s been accused of excessive force."

Dillow was investigated in 2002

On January 20, 2002, three officers including Dillow were involved in the death of a man called Luis Torres who was suffering from health problems. Torres suffered from hypertension and was experiencing a medical emergency when his family members called EMS, but Torres did not cooperate, prompting EMS to call Baytown Police. 

The three officers eventually noticed Torres on the streets of Baytown but it all turned violent as Dillow's dashcam showed the cops had taken Torres down and punched him multiple times. There was even someone's knee on Torres's neck at one point in the video. "It is remarkably (similar) to the George Floyd case," said attorney Michael Solar, representing the Torres family at the time. "His death was ruled a homicide, he died of asphyxiation."

The video of Torres's confrontation and the entire encounter with the cops was also shared by Shay on Twitter, captioned: "The entire incident was captured on Dillow’s dashcam video. One officer put a knee on Torres’ neck. His death was ruled a homicide by the ME’s office. Then DA Chuck Rosenthal took the case to Grand Jury. All no-billed."

What happened to Carlos?

Speaking with KTRK-TV, Dillow's latest arrest Carlos told the authorities that he and his friends might have previously driven away from deputies, and Dillow can be heard referring to that in the video. But Carlos adds he didn't expect getting gas would lead to a violent brush with the law.

Harris County Sheriff's Office and a spokesperson also shared with TMZ that the authorities are aware of the incident "in which one of our deputies used physical force and unprofessional language against a suspect at a convenience store". The outlet reports that the incident is currently under investigation and Dillow has been put on administrative leave.