Georgia police officer indicted for beating homeless woman after initially being cleared

A Georgia police officer was indicted Thursday on felony charges after a video surfaced showing him beating a homeless woman. 

DeKalb County police officer Phillip Larscheid, 29, was indicted Thursday by a grand jury on charges of aggravated assault and violation of his oath of office, The Associated Press reported, citing county District Attorney Sherry Boston. {mosads}

Officers initially cleared Larscheid of wrongdoing after he was arrested in 2017, Boston told the AP, but it reopened its investigation after a video of the incident surfaced. 

Lawyer Lance LoRusso, who is representing Larscheid, told the AP that his client was “considering his options” in a statement.

“We’ll take appropriate action in the next days and weeks,” he said. “Obviously, it’s devastating.”

The video of the incident, posted to YouTube by a local TV station, shows an officer beating up a woman with his police baton. 

According to the AP, Larschied encountered McCrary at a Decatur, Ga., gas station convenience store after a report that a person who was later identified as McCrary was asking customers for money.