NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) - A former Nebraska state trooper who was shown on video hitting a drunken driver from Colorado with his service rifle has been charged with a federal crime.
Lindsey Bixby, of Ellsworth, was charged Friday with deprivation of rights, U.S. Attorney Joe Kelly said in a news release.
Gov. Pete Ricketts cited the patrol's handling of the Bixby allegations as one reason he fired Col. Brad Rice as patrol superintendent in October 2017, The Kearney Hub reported.
A video taken on March 4, 2016, showed Bixby hitting a Colorado man in the head with his rifle after the man refused to refused to get on the ground at the end of a police pursuit in Sioux County.
The man was later sentenced to two years' probation for misdemeanors related to the pursuit.
Sioux County prosecutors did not charge Bixby, who resigned from the patrol. The incident did not become public for more than a year after it occurred.
Rice was fired after an investigation found patrol leaders tried to influence the outcome of at least four internal reviews - including the Bixby case. Investigators said the patrol also didn't disclose a dozen alleged cases of trooper misconduct and didn't properly investigate sexual harassment accusations.