WPBN: The local district attorney said Thursday that the Oklahoma City police officer who pushed a 71-year-old man to the ground following a traffic check has been charged with one count of aggravated assault and battery.
Following a minor altercation, Sgt. Joseph Gibson stopped Lich Vu, 71, for making an improper U-turn, according to body camera footage from the Oct. 27, 2024 incident.
Vu denied making a U-turn in the video, claimed that someone else had struck his car, and was asked to sign the ticket by the officer. After Vu finally exited the vehicle, the two began an increasingly heated verbal altercation.
Vu seemed to touch the officer’s arm, according to security footage from a nearby shop. Gibson quickly seized Vu’s hand, yanked it behind his back, and tossed him to the ground.
The encounter took place in a matter of seconds, and video captured Vu colliding headlong with the pavement. Vu was admitted to the hospital with serious injuries, such as a brain bleed, neck fracture, and orbital fracture.
In a statement, District Attorney Vicki Zemp Behenna stated that her office “determined the Officer’s actions were an unreasonable use-of-force in this particular case” and takes “all use-of-force incidents very seriously.”
State law defines assault and battery as aggravated when it is perpetrated by “a person of robust health or strength upon one who is aged, decrepit, or incapacitated” and when significant physical harm is caused.
Aggravated assault and battery carries a penalty of zero to five years in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections or zero to one year in the Oklahoma County Detention Center, along with a fine of up to $500 if found guilty by a jury. The Vietnamese community was outraged by the occurrence.
The Vietnamese American Community of Oklahoma’s president-elect, Thuan Nguyen, told KFOR about the police charge, “I feel like this is the due process of justice in its best form.”
Although he is now at home, Nguyen stated that he has maintained contact with the Vu family and is still recuperating.
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“Still in a lot of state of confusion,” Nguyen stated. “I do know that he may not be able to walk again.”
Gibson “handled this call for service with professionalism,” according to the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police, which declared its support for him on Thursday.
