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Another case of police brutality surfaces

INGLEWOOD (California) JULY 11. A grand jury is investigating a violent arrest in which a white police officer was videotaped slamming a black teenager onto a car and punching him, a prosecutor revealed on a call-in talk show.

The surprise disclosure came as Donovan Jackson, 16, and his father, Coby Chavis, filed a federal civil rights suit against two law enforcement agencies and several officers on Wednesday in a case that has prompted outcry reminiscent of the response to the Rodney King beating. Among the officers sued was Jeremy Morse, the three-year Inglewood veteran caught on tape smashing the handcuffed, limp teen onto a car and striking him with a closed fist. Mr. Morse has been on leave with pay since Monday. Chavis also claims he was beaten in the Saturday night incident at an Inglewood gas station, though that does not appear on the home video footage.

Meanwhile, authorities in Oklahoma City asked the FBI to look into the actions of two officers there who were videotaped striking an unarmed black suspect 27 times with tactical batons. Oklahoma City Police Chief, M.T. Berry, said the Inglewood incident prompted him to contact the FBI, but he does not believe the Oklahoma case rose to the same level of seriousness. Prosecutors do not normally disclose the existence of grand jury probes while they are under way, but the Los Angeles investigation became public on Wednesday when Mitchell Crooks, 27, who recorded the amateur video, was doing a phone interview on a KFI-AM radio show. A Los Angeles County prosecutor called the show and told Crooks on the air he was being subpoenaed to appear on Thursday. "We want you before the grand jury and we want that original tape," the chief deputy district attorney, Curt Livesay, said. "I want to cooperate," Mr. Crooks replied, but said he feared for his life and hung up when Mr. Livesay asked him to tell investigators where he was.

The federal lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and alleges negligence, misconduct and violation of constitutional rights to due process and against unreasonable search and seizure. It names Los Angeles County and three sheriff's deputies, and the city of Inglewood and four of its officers.

Sheriff's deputies said Jackson grew violent as they questioned his father about driving with expired tags. — AP

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