A white South Carolina police officer has been charged with assault after bodycam footage revealed he hit a black suspect after he was apprehended, authorities said Friday. Kevin Schlieben, a 35-year-old Charleston Police Department officer, was arrested and charged with third-degree assault and battery in connection with the July 1 arrest of 27-year-old Rashad Robinson, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
Investigators say Schlieben and another officer heard reports of a man walking around a neighborhood and allegedly trying to open car door handles and stopped to question Robinson—who ran away, according to the arrest warrant. After a brief foot pursuit, Schlieben got the 27-year-old into handcuffs and laid him on the ground.
“After Mr. Robinson was placed in handcuffs and laying on the ground, Kevin Schlieben told Mr. Robinson to ‘shut the fuck up,’ and struck Mr. Robinson in the head with an opened hand,” the arrest warrant says, noting the whole incident was captured on the officer’s body camera. Schlieben was placed on paid administrative leave after the incident, a Charleston Police Department spokesperson told The Daily Beast, noting the department will not be releasing the bodycam footage.
