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A federal jury has ruled in favor of a Eugene motorcyclist who was kicked in the chest by an Oregon State Police captain after a chase.

The jury awarded Justin Wilkens $180,000 on Jan. 14 to settle his excessive force claim in the August 2012 incident, the Register-Guard reports.

“I’m just happy as heck,” Wilkens, 41, said as he left the courthouse.

Video of the incident shows Wilkens speeding past Capt. Rob Edwards, who was in an unmarked police car. Edwards began to pursue Wilkens and then rear-ended his motorcycle. The police captain can then be seen pointing a gun at Wilkens and kicking him in the chest.

Wilkens suffered a broken clavicle, a fractured rib and other injures in the incident.

In addition to the excessive force claim, the jury found Edwards acted with negligence when he rear-ended Wilkens’ motorcycle, but ruled the state trooper did not violate Wilkens’ rights.

Edwards testified at trial his actions were in line with police policy and training.

The captain declined to comment on the case after the verdict and state Assistant Attorney General Dirk Pierson, who represented Edwards, said he was not authorized to speak about the case.

Jurors determined that Edwards violated Wilkens’ rights by kicking him and was negligent in rear-ending the motorcycle.

 

Source: nydailynews