© Takaaki Iwabu - tiwabu@newsobserver.com
Stephanie Nickerson, center, a Chapel Hill woman who is at the center of a police brutality claim in Durham, gets a hug from Nia Wilson (wearing a hat) while Rev. Curtis Gatewood with the NAACP, left, shakes a hand of Daryl Atkinson, right, attorney representing Nickerson.
Durham - A Chapel Hill woman who says a Durham police officer beat her during an arrest last fall won a court victory this week, and the officer has resigned.
Charges against Stephanie Nickerson, a Navy veteran who has filed a police brutality complaint, have been dropped. The charges of resisting arrest and assault on an officer were dismissed Wednesday, according to attorney Daryl Atkinson of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.
Nickerson and her lawyers learned of the development Thursday morning after more than 20 people rallied for her in near-freezing temperatures on the courthouse steps. She had been due in court later that day.
Meanwhile, Cpl. Brian Schnee resigned from the Police Department on Friday, according to Beverly Thompson, the city's director of public affairs. He had worked for the department since 2001.
Atkinson said he and Nickerson's other attorney, Geeta Kapur, would discuss possible next steps.
"The immediate goal was to get these charges dismissed," Atkinson said. "This case, though, speaks to some larger issues of racial injustice."
Kapur said she could not say whether Nickerson would sue the city, but said, "Our client's going to explore all of her options."
Kapur and Atkinson are representing Nickerson pro bono.
