More Angry Cops

First Oscar grant and 1 month later this guy! Can u say Oink...



FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Fresno's police department has launched an internal affairs investigation into a video-recorded arrest of a homeless man who was beaten by one officer while another restrained him.

The four-minute video, shot by a bystander Monday on a busy street, shows one officer standing over the man in the mud and holding his arms while the other officer delivers at least five punches to his face, some with the homeless man's hands behind his back.

Police Chief Jerry Dyer on Wednesday called the case disturbing, but said until the investigation is complete, it won't be known whether the officers' actions were appropriate.

"It's very disturbing on the surface," Dyer said. "I've watched it several times. There are other pieces that need to be looked at. Although a moment in time is crucial, it's important to look at all aspects of the officers' contact."

The internal affairs investigation should take about 30 days, Dyer said.

The names of the officers are not being released, but Dyer said neither has been cited for previous misconduct. One has served in the department for 10 years, the other for six.

Dyer said the officer who punched Glen Beaty, 52, is now on medical leave with a broken pinky finger that will require surgery. The video shows him briefly shaking out the hand that landed the punches.

The other officer was placed on administrative duty.

"I am deeply concerned about what I see in the video," Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin said in a statement. "I understand that officers need to use force, at times, to protect themselves or to make an arrest. But the video itself is very disturbing."

Attempts to reach Beaty, who was treated at a hospital and released Tuesday night, were unsuccessful.

The officers were responding to a call asking for police to "check on the welfare of an individual, who was lying under a tree and appeared to be stiff," said police spokesman Jeff Cardinale.

When officers approached Beaty, he was sitting up. When he spoke, his speech was slurred and he was "evasive in answering questions," Dyer said. One officer attempted to pat down a still-seated Beaty to check for weapons and he "flung his hands toward the officer."

"That's when the struggle ensued," Dyer said.

Dyer said Beaty hit one of the officers on the shoulder and tore off his police badge before the video began.

"The question is whether force was justified, and that's why we need to know what happened before the video started," Dyer said.

The unidentified man who shot the video Monday morning from a car across the street and provided it to KSEE-TV can be heard exclaiming "that's brutality," as a woman asks, "why are they hitting him like that?"

The videographer shot until an ambulance arrived and took Beaty away 40 minutes later.

Fresno police quickly released old reports of Beaty's previous run-ins with the law, including one in 2004 in which he allegedly resisted arrest by fighting with sheriff's deputies. Police arrested him Monday on outstanding warrants related to that case, Dyer said.

"Their excuses are disingenuous," said Mike Rhodes, a Fresno-based advocate for the homeless. "It doesn't matter what happened six years before. They had him under control, and they were beating him."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hj-N-_GyrSsQHVxwvOXWPJPQI50AD96A7DMO1