bransonglobe.com STATE COLOMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A suburban St. Louis police officer was fired Wednesday after a video posted online appears to show him hitting a man with a police SUV, kicking and punching the man then arresting him. Florissant Police Chief Timothy Fagan announced the immediate dismissal of Detective Joshua Smith at a news conference. No charges have been filed against Smith, a nine-year veteran of the force. An attorney representing Smith said what happened was an accident. The department doesn’t have a police union. “I have been an advocate against police abuse and misconduct my entire career,” Scott Rosenblum told The Associated Press. “I believe what this detective did was simply an accident,” Rosenblum said. He made a point of referring to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis as “clearly murder.” St. Louis County police say the arrest happened around 11:30 p.m. on June 2 in Dellwood, Missouri. The events were captured by a resident’s doorbell camera and posted online by media outlet Real STL news. The video shows the SUV driving fast at the man, striking him as he runs past a home. The uniformed officer gets out of the car and, as the man falls onto his back, the officer kicks at him then jumps on top of him, punching him then cuffing him. All the while, the man being chased is shouting “OK” and eventually “help.” Fagan said the man was treated at the hospital for an ankle injury. Fagan said he and others with him face charges for possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest. Florissant Police Sgt. Craig DeHart said Smith is white, but that he wasn’t authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation, including the race of the arrested man. Nurse fired from troubled VA home gets $72,000 settlement ST. LOUIS (AP) — A nurse who was fired from a troubled veterans home in St. Louis for raising concerns about a colleague who was later convicted in a triple murder has won a $72,000 settlement from the state. The settlement goes to Margaret Coulter, who had been a registered nurse supervisor at the St. Louis Veterans Home in north St. Louis County when she was fired in 2017 after informing police that Jerome Leon Buress Jr. worked at the home, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Coulter’s lawsuit against the Missouri Veterans Commission recounts that she told a Ferguson police officer that Buress, who was wanted in the killings, worked at the home. She then told the home’s administrator about Buress, saying she was worried about the safety of veterans and their families. Buress was arrested within a day. Five days later, the lawsuit said, Coulter was fired and was told by the administrator that it was “because she spoke to the police regarding Buress,” her lawsuit said. Buress is serving a life sentence for fatally shooting 24-year-old Jessica Garth and 27-year-old Derrick Irving in front of their daughters. He then fatally shot 37-year-old Julian Hayes as Hayes tried to escape, then shot 7-year-old Deniya Irving in the head. She survived but suffered brain damage. “I want to assure the citizens of Florissant and communities all around the country that that I have heard your concerns and demands for justice in this June 12-13, 2020 • 13 Missouri officer fired after video shows him striking man case,” Fagan said. Attorney Jerryl T. Christmas is representing the man struck by Smith and spoke at the protest, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. He used a baseball analogy. “He got fired, so we’re on first base. But we haven’t scored,” Christmas said, calling for Smith’s arrest.
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