The Associated Press
Los Angeles (AP) -- A police officer who helped arrest a man suspected of driving a stolen car was captured on video repeatedly clubbing him with a flashlight after it appeared he had surrendered.
The incident, which is under investigation by the Police Department, began when officers began chasing a suspected stolen car, said spokeswoman Sandra Escalante.
TV news footage shot from a helicopter showed the chase end on a Compton street and the suspect run away. After a short pursuit, the man appeared to surrender to an officer.
After several other officers arrived, the man was forced to the ground, where the videotape shows an officer striking him at least 10 times with a flashlight.
“The suspect resisted, and it’s unknown at this point as to the total circumstances. But certainly, there was some resistance, and a use-of-force incident occurred,” Capt. James Craig said. “And so that’s being investigated as we speak.”
The man, whose name was not released, was taken into custody. Escalante said she did not know if he had been injured.
A civil rights activist compared the incident to the 1991 beating of black motorist Rodney King.
“Here we go again,” said Najee Ali, director of Los Angeles-based Project Islamic H.O.P.E. “This is Rodney King all over again. ... This has got to stop.”
Four white Los Angeles officers were videotaped beating King. Deadly riots broke out a year later after the officers were acquitted of most charges.
In Wednesday’s incident, police did not immediately disclose the race of the officers or the suspect.
In another case, former Inglewood Officer Jeremy Morse, who is white, was caught on tape slamming a handcuffed black teenager against a patrol car and punching him in the face during an arrest in 2002. A judge dismissed an assault charge against Morse after two juries deadlocked.
The incident came a week after the Police Department reported it had put into effect numerous reforms mandated under a federal consent decree. The decree came after the Justice Department accused the department of a pattern of civil rights violations.