Ex-SC Trooper Pleads Guilty To Federal Civil Rights Charge

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - A former South Carolina trooper caught on video kicking a suspect in the head has pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge.

U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins says John B. Sawyer pleaded guilty Monday to depriving a man of his right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer.

Sawyer was indicted in July after video emerged showing him kicking a man in the head after a 2006 highway chase. He was placed on leave and later resigned from the highway patrol.

Sawyer had pleaded not guilty in July. He’ll be sentenced at a later date. Messages left for Sawyer’s attorneys were not immediately returned.