The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office will pay $425,000 to a mentally disabled man that was severely beaten by police in a traffic stop that occurred four years ago.

James Bayliss of Hackettstown, N.J., who was 21 at the time of the incident, was victimized on an early morning in May 2009. State police had spent all night searching for two burglary suspects in Warren County and stopped the car that Bayliss was riding in. The 21-year-old was forced to step outside so police could search his car.

The New Jersey Star-Ledger last year published a story and video of the incident, which was recorded by the trooper’s dashboard camera. The video shows Staff Sgt. Richard Wambold Jr. frisking the mentally disabled man, throwing him to the ground and punching him repeatedly in the face.

An eyewitness testified that the two troopers, identified as Wambold and Trooper Keith Juckett, dragged the limp and handcuffed man toward their patrol car and smashed his head against a tire. The witness said the actions of the police “disgusted" her.

Wambold defended the troopers’ actions, writing in the police report that Bayliss provoked a forceful response by failing to follow instructions, hiding his hands while seated in the car, and staring“menacingly” at the troopers. Wambold also insisted that he smelled alcohol in the car and that Bayliss tried to head-butt him.

After The Star-Ledger made plans to publicize the video last year – more than three years after the incident occurred – New Jersey state police confessed that the troopers had used unreasonable force. The police department prohibited the troopers from speaking with the media.

FULL STORY: http://rt.com/usa/new-jersey-police-beating-863/