Officer Adam Feaman, 40, was charged with second-degree assault after breaking a man's jaw with a flashlight last year. (Metropolitan Police Department, City of St. Louis)
A decorated cop in St. Louis has been charged with assault a year after breaking a man’s jaw with a flashlight as he was retreating, video shows.
Adam Feaman, 40, was charged Wednesday with second-degree assault and armed criminal action in the Aug. 14, 2017, beating of Jamal White, a 24-year-old man who approached the officer to find out why his car was being towed, according to court documents obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
A 3-minute video of the encounter shows White walking toward Feaman and another officer, one of whom said they didn’t need White “over here.” Feaman then ordered White to put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed, a command that White ignored while turning around to run away.
“You’re under arrest!” Feaman said while briefly pursuing White on foot. “You’re under arrest!”
“No, I’m not under arrest, how am I under arrest?” White replied. “No, get the f–k off me, bro! Get off me, how am I under arrest?”
The footage then shows Feaman — who was lauded as the city’s Fourth District Officer of the Year in 2016 — strike White once in the face, knocking him to the ground. Feaman then hit White again with his flashlight, this time in the back of the head while yelling, “Get on the motherf–king ground!”
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