WATCH: Trooper strikes man during chase after traffic stop in east Atlanta

Georgia State Patrol reviewing use of force
Jamarco Lucas was booked into the Fulton County Jail following a foot chase with a GSP trooper Sunday afternoon.

Credit: ATL Uncensored

Credit: ATL Uncensored

Jamarco Lucas was booked into the Fulton County Jail following a foot chase with a GSP trooper Sunday afternoon.

The Georgia State Patrol said it is reviewing a trooper’s use of force at the end of a chase through east Atlanta after the suspect took off from a traffic stop Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Two videos posted on Twitter, which captured the exchange in the final few minutes of Sunday’s pursuit, received more than 50,000 views within the first 24 hours of being posted. Near the end, the trooper delivered what the agency called a “foot strike” to the side of the suspect as he was being detained, spokesman Lt. Mark Riley said.

While the trooper remains on duty as the agency reviews the incident, the video has once again sparked debate about police brutality and injustice.

The incident began after the trooper noticed a man in a 2019 Dodge Challenger driving on the Downtown Connector near Edgewood Avenue without a seatbelt around 5:40 p.m. and initiated a traffic stop, Riley said in a news release. The driver, identified as Jamarco Kintavious Lucas, 27, of Decatur, was wanted out of Rockdale County on a battery charge.

Lucas initially stopped, but soon fled, according to Riley. Lucas exited the interstate onto Edgewood Avenue and a pursuit ensued, Riley said.

The trooper immediately attempted a PIT maneuver but was unsuccessful. The pursuit continued onto city streets before Riley said Lucas stopped the car and fled with his right hand inside his waistband. The trooper followed, exiting his vehicle and chasing Lucas through what appears to be a residential area.

During the foot pursuit that was caught on camera, Lucas can be seen falling onto the sidewalk. Riley said Lucas failed to show his hand, so the trooper deployed his Taser twice, hitting Lucas once. The trooper said he saw a handgun fall from Lucas’ waistband, but did not know the exact location where the gun dropped, according to the release.

Once Lucas was on the ground, Riley said he appeared to attempt to get up again. That was when the trooper can be seen in the video applying a “foot strike” to Lucas’ torso and another to his right arm, Riley confirmed. At that point, the statement said the trooper did not know if Lucas was still armed.

The video shows the trooper putting Lucas onto his side on the sidewalk before handcuffing him. While handcuffing Lucas, the trooper spotted a handgun lying on the sidewalk near him and a bystander walking toward him, Riley said.

“Back up! Back up! Don’t come over here! Stay away from that gun,” the trooper yelled at the bystander.

The trooper retrieved the handgun from the sidewalk and took Lucas to his patrol vehicle.

The battery charge dates to early September 2017 when the mother of his child told a Rockdale County deputy that Lucas had “punched her in the face, choked and threw her to the ground,” according to an incident report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The report said Lucas went to a home to speak to the victim about arrangements to see his son, but when he “had an issue with one of the parameters,” he became upset and a physical fight ensued. No “visible marks” were seen on the victim’s face, neck or head where she told police she had been hit, the report added.

Lucas also has an active arrest warrant of probation stemming from charges of battery, simple battery and criminal trespass in 2016, the warrant shows. He was released from the Rockdale County Jail in October 2016, two months after the incident, online records show. The warrant was issued in May 2017 after Lucas violated his probation.

In Sunday’s incident, Lucas has been charged with fleeing or attempting to elude, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number, reckless driving, speeding, improper lane change, failure to obey a traffic control device, driving while unlicensed and no seatbelt.

He was booked into the Fulton County Jail.