Lawsuit filed against S.C. trooper
A lawsuit has been filed in federal court against state trooper Lance Cpl. Alexander Richardson, alleging that the trooper chased a man through an apartment complex, hitting him three times with his patrol car.
Calvin Rucker, 25, said in the suit filed last month in U.S. District Court in Columbia that he was hit by the trooper’s car three times while running through the complex on April 28, 2007.A dashboard video obtained earlier this year by The State shows Rucker being hit at least once at Columbia Garden Apartments on Plowden Road off South Beltline Boulevard.
The video also shows Lance Cpl. Alexander Richardson driving his patrol car over sidewalks and curbs in the apartment complex. A man and his young son are seen on the video running out of the way of Richardson’s oncoming cruiser.
No charges have been brought against Richardson, and the U.S. Attorney's only comment is that the case is "still open." Last week, another trooper was acquitted in federal court of accusations that he purposefully ran down a man in his patrol car, despite a video showing him swerve to hit the man and despite his statement on the video that he hit the man on purpose; maybe the only way to effect some change in these cases is to file lawsuits such as this one.
According to the State newspaper, Richardson had already been disciplined twice before this incident, once for hitting a suspect in the face. Following this incident, Richardson was reprimanded and required to take a stress management class, but he is still employed with the South Carolina Highway Patrol in the same unit in Columbia.
The State news also has Richardson's account of what happened:
In his internal affairs statement obtained by The State, Richardson said he was on his way home about 7 p.m. when Rucker’s burgundy Chevrolet Caprice sped through a red light at Shop Road and South Beltline Boulevard, nearly hitting him.At the time, Rucker was being chased by another trooper in an unmarked car. Richardson said he took over the chase and pursued Rucker to the Plowden Road apartment complex nearby, where Rucker abandoned his car and fled on foot.
Richardson said he initially tried to use his patrol car and one of the apartment buildings as “wedge to keep him from escaping,” but that didn’t work.
While chasing him through the complex, Richardson said, he tried to get out of his car to chase him on foot but couldn’t because the electronic control panel for the windows and locks was loose and in the way of the door handle.
He said that while he was briefly looking at his door, he “accidentally bumped the violator with the push bumper on the front of my patrol vehicle.” The suspect continued running but quickly gave up and was arrested without incident.
“At no time did I intentionally try to bump the fleeing violator or use my patrol vehicle to forcibly stop him,” Richardson said in his statement.
Richardson said he applied his brakes “hard” just before the collision, though an internal affairs investigator’s review of the tape found no screen indication that the trooper had braked just before the collision.
Richardson in his statement said he didn’t realize until after the chase that two young children were in Rucker’s car, which had dark-tinted windows.
“In a split second, I decided to pursue the violator in and around the apartment buildings,” he said. “Looking back on it after the fact I wish I would not have pursued the violator through the apartment buildings. I am very relieved that no one got hurt.”
Nothing can justify what this man did, driving his patrol car through an apartment complex as people scatter, and striking a fleeing man with his car. It is only sheer luck that no-one was killed as a result of the trooper's actions.
