Dallas Fire-Rescue fires paramedic who kicked homeless man in the face

The Dallas paramedic who was captured on video repeatedly kicking an unarmed homeless man in the face was fired by the department, Dallas-Fire Rescue said Saturday evening. Brad Cox was “no longer a member of the department” as of Friday, spokesman Jason Evans said in written statement. Evans later clarified that Cox was fired, but declined to provide further information, saying Dallas Fire-Rescue does not comment on personnel matters. Cox had been on leave from the fire department since September, when The Dallas Morning News began asking questions about the incident and the Dallas Observer published police body-camera video that showed Cox, who is also a mixed-martial arts fighter, kicking and punching Kyle Vess.

Cox’s lawyers have declined to comment. Dallas police said Vess, a 32-year-old man with a mental illness similar to schizophrenia, was setting fires along the Interstate 30 frontage road in West Dallas on Aug. 2, 2019. Cox was stamping out the fires while Vess sat nearby. Footage release by police showed Cox say something to Vess, then kick him in the face. Vess then stood up and approached Cox, who punched the other man and knocked him to the ground. The police department’s public integrity unit determined that Cox acted in self-defense. Earlier this month, additional video emerged from a nearby business showing Cox kicking Vess at least nine times. Vess said he suffered a fractured eye socket, cracked teeth, a fractured sinus and partial paralysis on the right side of his face as a result of Cox’s repeated kicks.