Gabriel Harris' wife claims police used excessive force during Taco Bell arrest
Arrested: Gabriel Harris, was arrested at the restaurant in New Smyrna Beach, Florida
The wife of a man whose sad mugshot captured media attention this week is claiming police used excessive force against her husband after they went to a Taco Bell drive-through on bikes.
Gabriel Harris, was arrested at the restaurant in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, just after 3am on Sunday.
According to his arrest report, Harris was intoxicated when he got into an altercation at the drive-through after staff refused to take his order because he was not in a car.
But his wife Sarah Haliburton says the pair had not been drinking and that police were unnecessarily brutal.
She said officers pushed the 33-year-old into his bicycle and slammed his head onto the concrete, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal.
She said her husband's glasses were bent and ended up on the ground next to his blood.
Harris, she said, has had constant headaches since the altercation at the weekend and she is preparing papers to file a complaint about the officer's behavior and actions.
She also says she believes the restaurant discriminated against the pair because they were on bikes.
'It was discrimination,' Haliburton said.
'We don't choose to drive a vehicle. The bicycles are our vehicles.'
According to his arrest report, Harris was intoxicated when he got into an altercation at the drive-through after staff refused to take his order because he was not in a car.
Filmed: Wife Sarah Haliburton says police were unnecessarily brutal and said the officers pushed her husband into his bicycle, slammed his head onto the concrete
'Violent': She said the 33-year-old's glasses were bent and ended up on the ground next to his blood (pictured)
'They had two tacos ready and they said they would give it to us for free if we leave,' Haliburton said.
'I told them I want my complete order and that we would pay for it.'
In a 9-1-1 call employees can be heard in the background saying the pair were shaking and trying to open a window.
They are also heard saying the couple were taking pictures of the employees with a phone and they refused to leave when asked, according to the caller to 9-1-1.
Police found Harris on a bicycle by the menu speaker, reports The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
When police arrived they asked Harris to leave, but then spotted a red Swiss Army knife on his belt loop and tried to reach for it.
Scene: Harris was arrested at this Taco Bell restaurant in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, just after 3am on Sunday
Harris then grabbed the officer's wrist and was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed.
Haliburton said she does not understand why the officer tried to grab Harris' Swiss Army pocketknife attached to his pants by a carabiner clip because Harris did not act threateningly.
Police say he suffered a scraped forehead as a result of the scuffle.
Harris was booked into jail and charged with resisting arrest with violence.
He was later released on $1,000 bond.
Sunday's incident is Harris' second arrest in the past four months.
He was arrested for resisting an officer without violence in early August, reports the Miami Herald.
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