DART officer arrested for off-duty assault at apartment pool

LANCASTER, Texas - A DART police officer was arrested after Lancaster police say he assaulted a man at an apartment pool and then chased the man and his friends down in his car.

A video taken by Jercorein Madkins' friend shows the 18-year-old being held in a chokehold by off-duty DART Police Officer Elbert Corker. The incident happened at the Portofino Apartment community pool in Lancaster on the afternoon of June 8.

"I was just fearful, really. Just fearful,” Madkins said. “I didn't know what to do at that point but to defend myself."

That day, Madkins says the 50-year-old off-duty officer never identified himself as police when he told Madkins and his four friends to leave the pool because they didn't have pool passes. As they began to leave, Madkins says Corker called him an offensive name.

"I said, ‘Sir, you've been very disrespectful,’” he recalled. “And as I said that, that's when he slapped me. Following the slapping, he put me in a chokehold."

Madkins says he hit Corker several times so he and his friends could get away in their car.

"As we left, we thought it was over,” he recalled. “We thought it was done with until we saw him in the rearview mirror."

Police say Corker and jumped in his personal vehicle, chased the fleeing teens and intentionally rammed them.

Because the case involves a police officer, attorney Emmanuel Obi is working with Madkins to make sure there is accountability.

"I'm absolutely outraged by his conduct. I'm absolutely outraged by the way he decided to handle himself,” the attorney said. “This situation is broke down as many other situations break down; a lack of effective, respectful, communication."

Corker is charged with five counts of aggravated assault by a public servant and one count of assault causing bodily injury.

The 15-year veteran of the DART Police Department has been on administrative leave since the incident, and the agency is still investigating his actions. DART says it will not comment on a pending investigation.