A man kicked and punched by a group of San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies was stopped by police for running through several backyards a day after he reached a $650,000 settlement for the beating.

Francis Pusok, 30, was stopped sometime between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. April 22 in the 3700 block of Elm Avenue after he was spotted running through backyards of homes, said San Bernardino police spokesman Lt. Rich Lawhead.

He told police he was headed to his mother’s home. Pusok was not arrested, but officers took a report, Lawhead said.

The previous day, San Bernardino County agreed to pay Pusok $650,000 as part of a settlement ending any future claims.


The settlement came more than a week after the April 9 incident, in which deputies beat Pusok even as he appeared to have surrendered.

The beating was captured on video by a KNBC news helicopter.

Ten deputies were placed on paid leave and the FBI is conducting a civil rights investigation into the beating.

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said the incident “disturbed and troubled” him and has launched an internal investigation.


At the time, his attorney said in a statement that the case “was never about money for Mr. Pusok. It has always been and will continue to be about the personal safety of Mr. Pusok and his family free from police harassment and abuse that they have had to endure.”

Pusok’s run-in with San Bernardino police on April 22 wasn’t his first. Lawhead said Pusok and police have had several encounters over the years.

In 2011, San Bernardino police arrested Pusok in front of his father’s home. His attorneys said an officer kneed and shook him during the arrest, increasing his fear against authorities. But police said Pusok was stopped because he matched the description of a man with a gun.

Police Lt. Vicki Cervantes said he tried to fight an officer.


Pusok has faced multiple counts of resisting arrest or being aggressive toward officers in recent years, but many of those charges were eventually dismissed or reduced through plea deals.

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