Cop who beat homeless woman had 14 previous use of force incidents
The Georgia police officer who was caught on camera beating a woman with his baton had only been on the Dekalb County Police force for five years and already had fourteen use of force incidents on his record.
Officer P.J. Larscheid’s use of force record includes a 2011 incident in which he euthanized a deer by shooting it, though he was not reprimanded because the deer had been badly injured in a crash. He also was not reprimanded when he bloodied a suspect’s nose in January 2015 or when he choked a man in April 2015 or when he stated that he struck a domestic violence suspect multiple times in May 2015.
Then, in September 2015, he shot a man who allegedly refused to drop his weapon, though he was later cleared of wrongdoing.
— Kidd Creole charged in fatal stabbing of homeless man who made pass at him —Â
In June this year, he was caught on video beating Katie McCrary after she was accused of soliciting money from patrons in a Chevron store. In the video, Larscheid was seen hitting her multiple times while she was already on the ground.
The police department had investigated the incident and cleared Larscheid but reopened the case in July when the video started to make the rounds of the internet. However, the GBI’s investigation has hit a bit of a snag as it has not been able to track down McCrary since she bonded out of jail on an unrelated prostitution charge.
