GREENVILLE, S.C. --- A federal jury on Friday acquitted a white South Carolina trooper who bragged about striking a fleeing black suspect with his cruiser in a scene captured on video tape.

Lance Cpl. Steven Garren insisted during his four-day trial that the crash was an accident and that he did not have enough time to react when the sprinting Marvin Grant cut in front of his patrol car on a dark, rural road last year. "No one wanted Marvin Grant to get hit by a car," lawyer Wally Fayssoux said after the verdict.

He said Lance Cpl. Garren's testimony helped the jury make its decision.

"They got a chance to see and meet Steven Garren," he said.

The jury saw the video of the June 2007 incident dozens of times. It shows Mr. Grant running from Lance Cpl. Garren's car, then suddenly cutting in front of it. Mr. Grant was hit and rolled off the hood.

In the video, Lance Cpl. Garren brags to a deputy who also had been pursuing Mr. Grant, then seconds later says, "Yeah, I hit him. I was trying to hit him."

Lance Cpl. Garren left the courthouse smiling. He refused to take questions from reporters. Later in the day, officials said the suspended officer would be reinstated.

Black leaders in South Carolina reacted angrily to the decision from the jury of 10 whites and two blacks.

"This just goes to show us that justice isn't blind and that Lady Justice's scales are very unbalanced," state NAACP President Lonnie Randolph said. "To describe it as a miscarriage of justice is an understatement."

Lance Cpl. Garren was charged with using unreasonable force that deprived Mr. Grant of his civil rights. He could have faced a maximum 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald said he couldn't envision handling the case differently. "I don't think this case is representative of the Highway Patrol or law enforcement agencies," he said.

Mr. Grant, who escaped after being hit, testified that he spent three weeks on crutches but never saw a doctor. He is in jail for failing to pay child support, but he never faced charges in the chase that started the incident.

Lance Cpl. Garren has been suspended without pay since his federal indictment in June. Public Safety Department Director Mark Keel said Friday that he could not be disciplined again for the incident and could be back on the force as early as Monday.

He said the ordeal sent an important message to law officers.

"I think that the fact that he was indicted by a federal grand jury, that he went to trial and was tried by a federal court, I think sends a message that's loud and clear that this type of behavior is not going to be tolerated," Mr. Keel said.

Lance Cpl. Garren's trial was the first of two federal civil rights cases to come from a spate of police videos that showed questionable tactics by South Carolina troopers. The videos and how supervisors treated the officers on them brought the ousters of the heads of the Highway Patrol and Department of Public Safety earlier this year.