Great job getting some attention to it. It should meet the legal definition for assault. Good story angle would be that the police, DA, etc, are all protecting one of their own. Assault can also result in civil liability. From Wikipedia:
An assault is carried out by a threat of bodily harm coupled with an apparent, present ability to cause the harm. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in either criminal and/or civil liability. Generally, the common law definition is the same in criminal and tort law.
You could file in small claims court for your rim, a picture of the complaint would be a nice shot to add to a news report.