Raw Video: Correctional Officer Uses Taekwondo Moves On Prison Inmate

Deputy Roena approaches Cardenas and raising his hands in a fighting position, throws a few sparring punches in the air and makes a partial side kick toward the inmate standing in the doorway, according to video and the disciplinary letter.

Cardenas makes a couple half-hearted punches in the air, but doesn’t come near hitting the deputy. Roena keeps sparring, throwing punches and kicking high near Cardenas’ head as the inmate backs away.

Eventually they began grappling and Roena gets the inmate in a headlock and takes him to the ground. Several deputies rush up and separate the two men and restrain Cardenas.

In his initial use-of-force report, Roena said Cardenas “squared off on me and raised his hands to a fighting position.” The deputy said he ordered the inmate to step back into the housing unit and thought Cardenas was going to attack him. So Deputy Roena said he responded by “using defensive tactics,” including throwing a side kick to defend himself.

Roena also said he was “forced” to strike Cardenas because the inmate tried to kick him in the groin.

But the video contradicted Roena’s account of what happened, the disciplinary letter said.

“The video footage of the incident shows that Deputy Roena initiated the physical confrontation by approaching and engaging inmate Cardenas,” the letter said.

During a meeting with department leadership, Roena said after watching the surveillance video of the confrontation, he realized that his “actions actually caused a lot of these issues,” according to the letter.

Roena told his superiors that he reacted improperly, because he was intimidated by Cardenas, who has a reputation as a boxer who has hurt people during fights in the jail. The deputy said when confronted with Cardenas, he “had an adrenaline rush” and “tunnel vision” and this caused him to “not respond effectively,” the letter said.

Roena also admitted making a mistake by demonstrating his “martial arts techniques to the other deputies in the detention center.” [source: thedenverchannel.com]