Georgia cop faces assault charges for beating homeless woman after shocking video of the incident resurfaces
A police officer from the Atlanta area, who was captured on camera repeatedly hitting a homeless woman inside a convenience store, was indicted on Thursday, May 30, on felony charges. County District Attorney Sherry Boston said that a grand jury had indicted 29-year-old DeKalb County police Officer Phillip Larscheid, on aggravated assault and violation of his oath of office charges.
Lance LoRusso, Larscheid's attorney, said that his client is "considering his options". He told Associated Press: "We'll take appropriate action in the next days and weeks. Obviously, it's devastating."
The authorities had initially cleared Larsceid after the arrest on June 4, 2017, but the department has now reopened its use-of-force investigation after a video taken by a bystander surfaced online. Larsceid had responded to the scene after employees called to report that someone, who was later identified as Katie McCrary, was begging customers for money at the store.
McCrary was inside the store close to the front door when the officer arrived. She tried to push him out of her way and then walk out the door, according to the police report. The report then stated that when the officer told her to stay in place; she said she was a federal agent and gave him a "random badge number".
Larscheid then told McCrary that she could be arrested for impersonating an officer to which she replied that he was the one impersonating an officer and then grabbed his badge. He wrote in the report that when he pushed her back, McCrary grabbed his vest and radio. He then took out his baton and told her to lie on the ground before hitting her leg when she refused.
The report says that she then dropped to the ground and started kicking him as he beat her with the baton. At least two people could be heard in the video off-camera addressing McCrary by her name and asking her to stop resisting. It was at this point that the woman grabs the officer's baton and then Larscheid presses her to the floor with his knee in her back and repeatedly yells: "Let it go or I'm gonna shoot you."
As Larscheid was putting the cuffs on McCrary, she can be heard repeatedly asking him: "What did I do?" 40-year-old McCrary was charged with obstructing an officer and was also given a criminal trespass warning.
County spokesman Andrew Cauthen said in a statement earlier on Thursday, May 30, that Larscheid was still employed by the police department but that he had been on clerical duty since July 11, 2017. Larsceid agreed to turn himself in by 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 1.
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