Cam cop busted in ‘racial’ beating

A white police officer whose body camera recorded him beating a black pedestrian he accused of jaywalking has been arrested on assault charges in North Carolina.

Christopher Hickman was charged late Thursday with assault by strangulation, assault inflicting serious injury and communicating threats, according to the Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office.

The Asheville Police chief put Hickman on desk duty immediately following the beating last August, and he resigned in January after an internal investigation determined he should be fired. Still, the case remained a secret until the recording was leaked to the local newspaper and published last week, sparking community outrage. The FBI is now investigating.

The camera recorded a trainee confronting Johnnie Jermaine Rush for jaywalking. Hickman first told the trainee to write him a ticket, but then told Rush to put his hands behind his back after Rush complained about the stop.

Rush then tried to run and Hickman brought him down, repeatedly punching him in the head, the video shows. Hickman also struck him and shocked him with a stun gun and put him in a chokehold, according to city documents. An arrest warrant for Hickman notes Rush lost consciousness.

Officers charged Rush with impeding traffic and resisting arrest, but the charges were dropped.