North Carolina city reaches settlement with beaten jaywalker

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A North Carolina city has reached a $650,000 settlement with a black pedestrian whose beating by a white police officer was captured on body camera video.

A settlement filed Friday in Buncombe County shows the city of Asheville will pay Johnnie Jermaine Rush for claims made against the city and its police department.

Of the total, $307,500 will go to Rush’s attorneys. Rush will receive the rest in periodic payments.

The video from last Aug. 25 showed former officer Christopher Hickman punching, choking and shocking Rush, whom officers had accused of jaywalking. After that, Rush asked Hickman’s supervisor why she appeared to find the officer’s account more believable than his own explanation of what happened.

“You weren’t even here to know what happened,” Rush is heard saying to Sgt. Lisa Taube. “You’re just going by what your officer told you. There are two sides to every story.”

Taube responds: “There are. And, thankfully, I’ve got body-worn video camera to watch afterward.”

Police said Taube, who arrived on the scene after the altercation, was disciplined for her handling of the case.

Hickman was arrested in March on a state felony charge of assault by strangulation, plus misdemeanour counts of assault and communicating threats. In June, the U.S. Department of Justice said Hickman would not face federal charges.