Videos show police officers tasing Virginia man on horseback and then running him over
By: A federal judge denied a Lynchburg police officer’s effort to throw out a $5 million lawsuit accusing him of excessive force from a man who was tased while on horseback and run over by police during a chase in 2021.
According to court filings, Lynchburg authorities were notified on March 20, 2021, of a man on horseback heading into the city from Amherst County with an outstanding warrant for an alleged protective order violation.
The man on the horse, Steve Rucker, refused to stop to be served the warrant, which was for a misdemeanor that was eventually dropped and did not require him to be taken into custody, leading police on a chase through downtown Lynchburg.
Videos from that day shared with 8News show Lynchburg police tasing Rucker on the horse as he’s being slowly pursued by officers, and then running him over after he fell off the horse.
Rucker filed a federal lawsuit against two Lynchburg police officers — Zachary Miller and Michael Johnson — seeking $5.35 million in damages, claiming excessive force and that he suffered a lacerated liver with hemorrhaging, a pulmonary contusion, multiple rib fractures, a concussion and other injuries.
Rucker’s civil lawsuit claims he was already on horseback when the Amherst County emergency communications operator informed Lynchburg authorities he was riding into the city. A Lynchburg officer, the lawsuit states, saw Rucker on horseback in front of a hotel in the city before activating his emergency lights and giving “a quick siren whelp.”
Officers tried to get him to stop during the chase, according to court documents, with one telling Rucker, “We just have paperwork for you.” One officer who was on foot tried to use his taser to stop Rucker but missed. A few minutes later, court documents say Miller tased Rucker.
Video from Miller’s body camera shared by Rucker’s attorney shows Miller waiting for Rucker as the chase continues down a suburban street. Miller can be heard telling someone on his radio that he’s “out in front,” before a voice tells him to try to safely use his taser on Rucker if he can without hitting the horse.
Miller gets out of his vehicle as Rucker approaches, using his taser and saying on his radio that it was “successful” but that Rucker was not stopping. Court documents allege the horse then ran off at about 15 miles per hour until Rucker fell off “two blocks later.”
Dash camera video provided to 8News shows an officer in a patrol vehicle following Rucker down a suburban street with their lights and siren on before Rucker falls off the horse and onto the middle of an intersection.
Rucker can be seen trying to get up by moving to his knees, but he then quickly sits and lies on the street. The video then shows another police cruiser approach the intersection before hitting Rucker and then running him over as it turns left.
Someone can be heard screaming in the video afterward, and the footage shows the horse run off down the street and out of view. Rucker lies down motionless before moving slightly.
In a court filing responding to Rucker’s lawsuit, Johnson admits that he got out of his patrol cruiser thinking he put it in park, but it was still moving, so he got back in to avoid hitting another officer at the scene.
In the filing, Johnson said he turned the vehicle sharply to avoid the officer, but he then hit a retaining wall and was “put” in Rucker’s direction. He added that he “tried as hard as he could to maneuver his vehicle to avoid Rucker, but the vehicle ended up hitting him.”
Rucker claimed Johnson hit the accelerator when he jumped back into the car, which Johnson denied in the court filing responding to the lawsuit.
In total, court documents state Rucker traveled “between ten and twenty-five miles per hour” and turned down about a dozen streets during the chase.