DASHCAM: LaFayette police officer Lt. Tom Davidson pushes over man in wheelchair.
A Lafayette, Indiana, police lieutenant shoved a man in a wheelchair that tipped over into the street on Oct. 1, 2013 incident. The video was released this month.
The video shows Lt. Tom Davidson in a conversation with Nicholas Kincade, 25, who was sitting in a motorized wheelchair. Kincade, according to police reports, told employees from a charter school nearby that he was armed with a gun.
Police immediately learned that Kincade did not have a gun, but found he possessed a pocket knife that Kincade said he carried for protection.
A report prepared by Davidson states that he “gave a two-handed strike, open handed” to Kincade’s right shoulder when the subject drove the powered chair onto his foot and also hit his shin.
The action by Davidson put Kincade at risk of serious or fatal injury, but Kincade was able to protect the side of his head from the fall with an outstretched arm and hand. Kincade did suffer abrasions to the face when he struck the pavement.
The action also risked injuries to fellow police officer who reacted by initially attempting to stop the fall of the wheelchair.
Kincade was placed in handcuffs and arrested for battery against a law enforcement officer, a Class D felony. The charge were dismissed five months later. In May, Lafayette Police Department’s Civil Service Commission disciplined Davidson with a 30-day suspension and supervisory probation for a year.
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