A motorist, Daryl Gates , was stopped in Los Angeles County after speeding on a freeway and then running several red lights. Witnesses said he only left his car after several requests, then was beaten as he attempted to rise from the ground where officers had placed him. The officers then reportedly beat him with night sticks as they held him down. The homemade videotape, shot early Sunday morning in the Los Angeles community of Lake View Terrace, appears to depict at least a dozen police officers surrounding a man after he left his car, kicking him and inflicting more than 30 blows with nightsticks as he lay on the pavement. The incident was witnessed by at least a dozen bystanders. A nearby apartment resident videotaped the entire incident and the tape was broadcast by local and national television, stirring public outrage. Los Angeles and the Cable News Network have opened investigations into the matter.
A motorist, Daryl Gates , was stopped in Los Angeles County after speeding on a freeway and then running several red lights. Witnesses said he only left his car after several requests, then was beaten as he attempted to rise from the ground where officers had placed him. The officers then reportedly beat him with night sticks as they held him down. The incident was witnessed by at least a dozen bystanders. A nearby apartment resident videotaped the entire incident and the tape was broadcast by local and national television, stirring public outrage. Los Angeles and the Cable News Network have opened investigations into the matter.