From the AP archive: March 5, 1991
Videotape shows officers beating man; probe launched
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Authorities are investigating a videotape that shows what appears to be a group of police officers beating a man with nightsticks and kicking him as other officers look on.
A copy of the videotape was turned over to the police department's Internal Affairs Division for investigation of possible excessive use of force, said Deputy Police Chief William Booth.
The incident was recorded by George Holliday, 31, who said he videotaped the incident early Sunday morning from the balcony of his apartment in Lake View Terrace, an unincorporated community 24 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
Holliday said he and his wife watched as a white sedan was pulled over by about 10 squad cars. The driver got out of the car and lay face down on the pavement when three officers began striking him about the head and shoulders with their nightsticks, Holliday said.
The beating continued for more than a minute with officers swinging their nightsticks with both hands. In addition to his head and shoulders, the man was beaten around the kidney area and legs and kicked in the head, Holliday said.
The victim, dressed in pants and a T-shirt, attempted to cover his head with his arms and rolled about on the ground.
During the incident, two passengers, who appeared to be male, remained in the sedan, Holliday said.
It was uncertain whether race played a role in the incident. As shown on local television, the videotape is not clear enough to positively ascertain what the race of the victim and the police officers are.
In the videotape it appeared that one officer held a wire tied about the victim's neck. Afterward, the man's wrists and ankles were tied behind his back and he remained on the ground until he was taken away in an ambulance, Holliday said.
"Before they started hitting him he was pretty much cooperative," Holliday said. "It was a weird feeling. I was trying to think what could he have done to deserve that? I was thinking, it's terrible that that's happening, I was feeling for the guy. ... But I didn't know what the guy did."
Police on Monday did not identify the man they took into custody nor explain the reason he was stopped.
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