Sheriff: Asheville police confrontation easily avoidable

Senior Police Officer Christopher Hickman and an officer in training stopped Rush for suspected jaywalking. Before they can ticket him, Rush runs off, prompting Hickman to chase and tackle him. As Rush is being restrained on the ground, Hickman hits him in the head several times, shoots him with a stun gun and chokes him.

Peterkin said the episode could have ended long before the chase, when Rush agreed to take the ticket for jaywalking.

"The gentleman said, 'I'll take a ticket.' I think he said, 'Write me a ticket.' The officer at that time should have asked for ID and wrote the ticket," Peterkin said. "But it kept going on and on and on and on, and I think it could have stopped right there."

Law enforcement officers set the tone during the initial stages of a traffic or pedestrian stop, but both sides need to show respect to avoid a confrontation, he said.

"Mutual respect is so important because that's where the arguments, the confrontations, the shootings and all that, that's eliminated," he said.

Police stops are not the time or place to resolve issues, Peterkin added. Anyone who thinks they have been inappropriately charged should fight that battle in court, not on the streets, he said.

Incidents like the one in Asheville hurt good police officers who are trying to improve the relationship between their law enforcement agencies and the communities they're paid to protect and serve, he said.

"It affects every agency. I don't care what city, county or state you're in, when it goes out there, everyone has to deal with it," he said.