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'Pepper-Spray Cop' Former UC Davis Officer Pike Awarded Nearly $40,000 In Comp Claim

DAVIS (CBS13) — The former UC Davis Police lieutenant caught on camera pepper-spraying students will get nearly $40,000 for psychiatric injuries he says he suffered after the incident.

Pike, 39, was the officer a CBS13 camera captured spraying down students with pepper spray during an Occupy UC Davis rally Nov. 18 at the quad. Students were seated arm and arm and refused to follow police commands to move.

That's when Pike and another officer doused them with pepper spray.

Pike was immediately put on paid administrative leave following the incident, which drew criticism from all over the country and had many calling for Chancellor Linda Katehi to be fired.

Pike had been collecting a six-figure salary until his separation from the department in July 2012.

He filed a worker's comp claim on grounds that he was victimized by the way he was treated after the fact.

A psychiatrist agreed Pike suffered a moderate disability, and is entitled to the benefits.

A lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, which represented the students.

A settlement was reached where the university would pay $1 million, including $730,000 to the 21 named plaintiffs and others who were pepper-sprayed during the nonviolent demonstration on the quad on Nov. 18. That amounts to $30,000 for each of the 21 students, with $100,000 set aside for others who were pepper-sprayed or wrongfully arrested that day. Another $250,000 was set aside for costs and attorney fees. That money came from a UC insurance fund.

The incident also led to the resignation of Annette Spicuzza, the UC Davis Police Chief at the time of the incident, in April 2012.

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