RED HANDED

Probe Underway After Georgia Trooper Caught on Film Stomping Suspect

The unnamed trooper pulled the suspect over for not wearing a seatbelt, then pursued, tased, and twice stomped the man when he bolted, according to department officials.

A Georgia State Patrol trooper is under investigation after public outrage following the circulation of footage appearing to show him stomping on a suspect. Department officials said the unnamed trooper pulled a suspect, Jamarc Lucas, 27, over on Oct. 3 for not wearing a seatbelt. Lucas was on probation for assault, and had a warrant for his arrest in Rockdale County for simple battery. Lucas stopped, but then fled—first in his vehicle, then on foot, according to officials. The trooper, they said, saw Lucas leave his car “with his right hand inside his waistband.”

The video, shared on Twitter on Sunday, captures what seems to be the trooper pursuing Lucas on foot. The officer had allegedly seen a handgun fall out of the suspect’s waistband, the state patrol said, but didn’t know where it had fallen. The department confirmed the trooper then deployed his stun gun twice, shocking Lucas to the ground. The department claimed that, because he did not know whether Lucas was armed, the “trooper applied a foot strike to the center of the driver’s body and then another to the driver’s right-hand area, which appeared to still be in the waistband.” He arrested Lucas and afterward spotted “a handgun laying on the sidewalk.” A review into the use of force was underway as of Thursday.