Man struck by HPD Chief McClelland's car in downtown Houston shares his side of story

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- We're finally hearing from the man who was hit by the car driven by Houston police Chief Charles McClelland as he made his way through a crosswalk downtown last month.

The victim in this case, attorney James Harris, has declined our requests to talk on-camera since the accident.

But on Wednesday, the Houston Police Department released video of Harris telling his side of the story just after it happened.

The video of the accident last month at the intersection of Clay and Travis was stunning. A car plowing into a pedestrian, sending him flying into the air.

In the out-of-focus video released Wednesday, Harris describe what happened to HPD investigators.

"The light turned green, I proceeded into the intersection, or the crosswalk. The next thing I know, I guess I got hit by the car because the next thing I know I could just see the hood of the car. And I guess landed on my, got hit on the right side, landed on my right side on the ground," Harris said.

Harris broke his arm, and we got a picture of his cast after he was released from the hospital.

But it's also clear from his blurry statement that this was more than just a minor incident, as the chief described it.

"It knocked the wind out of me. And I was pretty much like, rolling on the ground with my arm hurt, trying to get my breath. And then of course everyone was around me," Harris said.

"Now you say everybody, who was around you?" an officer in the video is heard asking.

"I think the first person I saw was who might have been the officer," he said.

That officer was of course the chief of police, but the accident victim apparently wasn't told that hours later while being questioned in the hospital by HPD investigators.

As for McClelland, he got a day off of work with no pay and no traffic citation.

"I'm going to receive a day off without pay. That day off without pay may be 10 times more than the max that I could receive from a citation," McClelland explained.

Find Brian on Facebook at ABC13BrianCollister or on Twitter at @BrianCollister

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