COLUMBIA (AP) -- The South Carolina Public Safety Department has been dropped from a New York man's lawsuit accusing a state trooper of excessive force.
Court records show U.S. District Judge Terry Wooten dropped the agency from Sergio Caridi's complaint earlier this month.
Caridi has pleaded guilty but mentally ill for leading South Carolina authorities on a long chase down Interstate 95 in a dump truck in 2006. He says he was repeatedly kicked in the head by trooper John B. Sawyer. Caridi had accused the Public Safety Department of negligence in training Sawyer.
Sawyer was one of three troopers accused of violating motorists' rights after the release of dashboard camera videos showing aggressive actions. He was sentenced to probation after he pleaded guilty last year to violating Caridi's civil rights.
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