SAN ANTONIO — Mathias Ometu spoke for the first time since video of police arresting him went viral, saying that he was violated and harmed physically, emotionally and mentally.
On Wednesday morning in downtown San Antonio, with his attorneys by his side, Ometu lodged accusations of police brutality and unfair treatment against him and others by both officers with the San Antonio Police Department and employees at the Bexar County jail.
Ometu said that he had a gut feeling that his run was going to take a turn on August 25 when a police vehicle slowed down next to him as he ran.
"Being a conscious Black male, this raised an immediate flag," he said.
"The officer actually sped off, leading me to think that I was clear to continue my run," he said. "However, the officer made a U-turn at the intersection and approached me, and immediately began asking for my name."
"Not wanting to be bothered, as I am in the middle of a run and feeling targeted, I refused to give the officer any personal information as I have not committed a crime, and relayed this to the officer," he said.
"The officer attempted to intimidate me, relaying that I have to provide this information to him," Ometu said. "I do not know much about the laws and regulations of this state, but I did know that I do not have to provide my name if I am not arrested for a crime."
He said he was told by an officer that he fit the description of a suspect and asked again for his name.
"When I refused to provide it, I was placed in handcuffs aggressively to the point that I'm still feeling that pain in my wrists. The officers advised me that I was being detained for a crime that I knew nothing about," he said. "I allowed the officers to handcuff me with no resistance."
He said the cuffs remained on until 11 p.m. After he was handcuffed, a second officer came to the scene and told him he fit the description of a male domestic violence suspect in a lime green shirt.
"He advised me that he knew nothing about the race of the individual, which I was pretty suspicious of, as that's a pretty important detail when identifying a person."
Officers told Ometu that the initial plan was to have the victim come to the scene to see if he was the man who assaulted her, but then officers decided to bring him to her.
"Not knowing the victim at all, I was strongly against being taken to a victimized person, as I did not know the state that this person was in," he said. "The officer made it seem like I did not have a choice or option. I made it clear to him that I did not want to be transported in the vehicle to any location, besides the spot that I was currently located at."
"Once those doors are closed on you, you never know when they are gonna open again."
He said that's when officers forced him into the car, hurting him.
"I felt each finger of the officers press into my throat," Ometu said, recounting the struggle as officers forced him into the vehicle. "I was told to calm down, but there is nothing calm about placing an innocent man in the back of a police vehicle. I was guilty before proven innocent."
"During the struggle, I sustained injuries to my back and neck. I made multiple officers aware of that. I had trouble fitting in the vehicle, and was laying with my back against the door," he said. "Multiple officers, knowing my placement in the vehicle, continued to open and shut the door of the vehicle, aggravating the injuries that I advised them of."
"One even purposely slammed the door, and later even threatened me."
He said that he was eventually told that he wasn't being charged for the initial crime he was suspected of, but he was going to be charged with assaulting a police officer.
"I was absolutely baffled when I heard these crimes that I was being charged for," he said.
He said that he was held in the back of a vehicle for what felt like hours, and police denied his requests for water and requests to make a phone call or speak to an attorney.
Ometu said that in detention, it was unbearably cold for anyone not wearing long sleeves. He said that many in custody fall asleep due to the temperature.
He was eventually booked into the county jail hours after the initial contact with police.
"One person, after the officer continued to aggressively push and annoy this man, was body-slammed face-first into the concrete floor. There was a large puddle of blood once he was finally lifted from the ground as if he was just trash. At this moment, I recognized where I was at."
Ometu got emotional recounting his experience in the jail.
"I was stripped naked," he said as his voice broke. "I was exposed... I was exposed."
"I felt violated, extremely violated."
Ometu and his lawyers say the process for him to get out of jail was needlessly difficult.
"The bond hearing is done immediately without any selected counsel or opportunity to speak to counsel specifically for your case," he said
He said that he had no knowledge of the bond process, and couldn't access his phone to find his friends' phone numbers. He said the only numbers provided were for bail bond providers, and he tried to get one to contact a friend to no avail.
He said he was not provided food until around 6 a.m. the morning after he was arrested. Ometu said that he when he was placed in a cell in the Bexar County jail on the afternoon of August 26, he still had not contacted a loved one or lawyer, and didn't think anyone knew where he was. He said he wasn't allowed to shower for two days.
"That cell door did not open until the following day at approximately 9 a.m. However you never really know what time it is, as there aren't clocks available to you in a jail cell," he said. "You just have to basically take a guess on how the sun is shining through the window. It seemed like to me that this is done on purpose maybe, as a way for those in the system to lose track of time."
"I experienced true darkness during this period of isolation," Ometu said. "I thought about my job, what people would think of me, my record. Thousands of thoughts flew into my head, each gaining momentum of completely breaking me."
He said that even when he was told he was being released, he was placed in a holding cell with others for about five hours, and he witnessed officers use their power to intimidate prisoners.
"Every man in my cell was threatened to be held an additional three days for talking among each other," he said. "One man was told by a veteran officer that he would be the last to leave, pushing his release back an additional two shifts, approximately a half a day."
He said that he was thrilled to see his friends when he was released and happy that his interaction with police had been caught on camera and seen by many.
He appeared at the press conference with Attorney Artessia House, a San Antonio native representing him. She said that his civil rights were violated by authorities in several ways.
Adam Kobs is Ometu's criminal defense attorney, who was appointed Thursday afternoon. The charges against Ometu have since been dropped by the Bexar County District Attorney.
"I was not aware that he had already spent two days in jail, having been appointed an attorney that passed away many years ago," Kobs said. "There's no reason why this young man, Mr. Ometu, who is employed at USAA, should have spent two days in custody based on an error."
All demanded better training and policing, and justice in this case.
"The impact was significant," Ometu said. "You lose freedom, and that's the biggest thing. I felt like I was trapped, against my will."
"My name is not clean, and that has to be addressed," he said. "I was punished for invoking my rights, and that has to be addressed. I was treated unfairly, and that has to be addressed. I was physically, emotionally, and mentally harmed, and that has to be addressed."
"Multiple cops either not knowing, or ignoring the rights of Texas residents, this has to be addressed. I will not stop until all of these issues are taken care of, and they are addressed."