Video released by Taylor Rogers’ attorney shows her screaming as hundreds of ants attacked her when the officer pushed her head into an ant bed.
SANTA FE, Texas — A federal judge threw out motions by a police chief and an officer who were sued after a woman in their custody was attacked by fire ants.
The civil rights lawsuit filed in 2024 stems from the 2021 arrest of Taylor Rogers by the Santa Fe ISD Police Department.
Editor’s note: The above video originally aired in May 2024.
Police body camera footage shows Officer Christian Carranzas push Rogers’ head into the bed of fire ants while handcuffing her.
“Ants are on my face, ants are getting on my face, please!” Rogers could be heard yelling in the video. “How can y’all do this? Ants are on my face! Please let go!”
Rogers couldn’t swipe the ants off since she was handcuffed, and she said the officers didn’t do it for her. She said her 9-year-old son witnessed the whole thing from the backseat of her car.
Attorney Randal Kallinen described it as “a horrific case of torture and excessive force.”
Santa Fe ISD Police Chief Ruben Espinoza and Officer Christian Carranzas tried to have the lawsuit thrown out, but a federal judge has denied both motions.
In Carranza’s motion, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown cited four disputed facts:
- Carranza’s continued use of leg leverage on Rogers after she had been subdued and stopped struggling
- Carranza’s failure to remove Rogers from the ant pile upon learning of the ants
- Carranza’s attempt to subdue Rogers by folding her legs and kneeling on them after Carranza knew ants were on Rogers and biting her
- Carranza’s failure to render aid or remove the biting ants after standing Rogers up, handing her off to another officer, and escorting her to the police department
The motion by Espinoza, who witnessed the arrest, was based on the bystander-liability claim. Brown said that claim would only apply if Rogers’ constitutional rights were violated, which has yet to be established.
Espinoza also argued that Rogers never accused him of excessive force. Brown’s ruling points out that: Rogers implicated “all defendants” in her excessive force claim; and Espinoza admitted on video and in documents that he “placed” Rogers on the ground.
Original 2024 report on fire ant lawsuit
A woman left covered in bug bites after she says police handcuffed her and held her down in a bed of fire ants has filed a lawsuit against the City of Santa Fe.
Police say there’s more to the story.
Warning: Some people may find images below disturbing
“Taylor Rogers was stopped by Santa Fe police for no reason, thrown on the ground right into a bed of fire ants in the middle of the day and then held there while screaming,” civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen said during a news conference.
Police body camera footage shared with KHOU 11 News by Kallinen shows a portion of Rogers’ arrest before it cuts off. She was on the ground being handcuffed when she started screaming.
“Ants are on my face, ants are getting on my face, please!” Rogers could be heard yelling in the video. “How can y’all do this? Ants are on my face! Please let go!”
She was handcuffed and couldn’t swipe the ants off, and she said the officers didn’t do it for her.
Kallinen shared images that show Rogers covered in fire ant bites on her face, neck, chest and shoulders.
“Is it torture? Yeah, that’s a strong word, but I call it torture,” Kallinen said. “When the police hold you down in a fire ant bed and you’re saying fire ants and screaming, and they keep you there, what is that?”
Rogers said the whole thing happened in front of her 9-year-old son, who was in the back seat of her vehicle.
In a prepared statement, Rogers said the officers showed an “absence of empathy and human compassion.”