Oklahoma Cop Who Horribly Slammed And Elderly Man To The Ground And Seriously Injured Is Charges With Aggravated Assault And Battery

The Oklahoma City police officer who slammed a 71-year-old man onto the ground after a traffic stop has been charged with one count of aggravated assault and battery, the local district attorney announced Thursday.

Body camera footage from the Oct. 27, 2024 incident showed Sgt. Joseph Gibson stop Lich Vu, 71, for an illegal U-turn after a minor incident.

In the footage, Vu denied making U-turn, said his car was hit by another person and the officer asked him to sign the citation. Vu eventually got out of the car and the two got into a verbal argument that escalated.

Security video footage from a nearby business showed that Vu appeared to touch the officer’s arm and Gibson immediately grabbed Vu’s hand, pulled it behind his back and threw him onto the floor. The interaction happened within seconds and footage showed Vu hit the pavement headfirst. Vu was hospitalized with significant injuries including an orbital fracture, neck fracture and brain bleed.

District Attorney Vicki Zemp Behenna said in a statement that her office takes “all use-of-force incidents very seriously” and “in this particular case determined the Officer's actions were an unreasonable use-of-force.”

Under state law, an assault and battery is considered aggravated when great bodily injury is inflicted and when it’s committed by “a person of robust health or strength upon one who is aged, decrepit, or incapacitated.”

Oklahoma City police declined to comment Friday on the charge, but said Gibson remains on administrative leave.