Motorist Shot by S.C. Trooper Gets Nearly $300,000 Settlement

A Columbia, S.C., motorist shot late last summer by an ex-Highway Patrol trooper in a confrontation that drew national attention has received a nearly $300,000 settlement from South Carolina, reports The State .

Levar Edward Jones was paid $285,000 through South Carolina's Insurance Reserve Fund, Scott Hawkins, spokesman for the fund said Tuesday. The settlement was reached Oct. 3, within a month of the Sept. 4 incident when a trooper fired shots at Jones after the officer pulled Jones over for not wearing a seat belt.

Jones, 35, who was unarmed, sustained a bullet wound to his hip. The trooper, 31, was uninjured.

The trooper was fired by the Highway Patrol shortly afterward for misreading that Jones was a threat, using too much force for too long and violating several patrol agency policies, according to the S.C. Department of Public Safety, the patrol's parent agency.