Iowa Trooper’s Dashcam Shows Him Knocking Down Motorcyclist
The video is violent and shocking. It includes a chase involving Iowa State Trooper Robert Smith pulling over 20-year-old Bryce Yakish of Davenport for speeding. The trooper appears to turn on his flashing lights for a short time but then appears to deactivate them as his pursuit continues. They seem to be reactivated about 20 seconds before Yakish pulls over. Sound in the video appears to show sirens weren't activated until Yakish had already slowed to stop. The video below shows the chase and Smith pulling his gun and hitting what appears to be a totally unsuspecting 150-pound Yakish, knocking him to the ground.
It happened on September 25, 2017, and Yakish was arrested on an eluding law enforcement charge by Smith. However, that requires someone speeding more than 25-miles-per-hour over the speed limit, away from police, while lights and sirens are turned on. In the video, Yakish admits to going approximately 80 miles-per-hour when he passed Smith's vehicle but says he didn't know he was being pursued. The eluding charge was later changed to reckless driving and Yakish paid a fine of $250.
Smith was put on leave while they investigated the above incident. The findings of the investigation have not been released and Smith left the Iowa State Patrol when it concluded. He was a trooper for 30 years.
Robert Smith is now a police officer in Durant, Iowa where his wife was once the mayor. Last summer, residents complained about his "use of force while arresting a woman outside a bar," according to the Quad-City Times.
Last month, we told you that Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington wasn't booking suspects arrested by the Durant Police Department. At the time, Wethington said that one of the department's officers has an alleged history of "being untruthful and using questionable force," and that he couldn't "vouch for the integrity of the arrests."
After seeing the video above, Wethington said, "It's pretty damning. There was absolutely no reason to point a gun at this kid and then to come up and strike him in the helmet. That kid was complying." Wethington said he would fire any deputy that behaved that way.