[url]http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/07/11/police.beating/index.html[/url]

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The man who shot the amateur video of Inglewood police beating an African-American teenager was taken into custody Thursday afternoon by officials with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Michael Crooks was arrested outside CNN's Los Angeles bureau where he was scheduled for an interview. Witnesses said he was screaming as he was driven away by plainclothes officers.

He had been scheduled to appear Thursday morning before a grand jury investigating the beating incident but did not appear. Authorities said his arrest was unrelated to that case.

The grand jury hopes to get the original videotape shot by Crooks, Chief Deputy District Attorney Curt Livesay told a Los Angeles radio talk show Wednesday.

Crooks and Livesay had a terse exchange on the show, with Crooks saying he feared police were "coming after me because I shot the video." (Full story)

The video shows a handcuffed Donovan Jackson, 16, being slammed onto a patrol car, then hit in the face by an Inglewood police officer. The tape, shot by Crooks from a hotel across the street from the incident, received widespread attention after airing on local and national television.

Attorneys for Jackson and his father filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging their civil rights were violated.

Family attorneys say Inglewood police officers and Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies beat Jackson and his father, Coby Chavis, before the videotape began.

"What you saw was the lesser of two beatings," said Joe Hopkins, Jackson's attorney.

The lawsuit names as defendants the city of Inglewood, Los Angeles County, four Inglewood police officers and three sheriff's deputies as well as unnamed officers from both departments who were at the scene.

The suit does not ask for specific damages, but Chavis' attorney John Sweeney said, "We believe this is a seven-figure case."

Law enforcement officials insist the altercation was started by Jackson, who they say sought to interfere with a deputy trying to cite his father for having expired license plates and driving with a suspended license.

"The juvenile attacked our deputy, which started the scuffle in the first place," said Lt. Carl Deeley, a sheriff's department spokesman. "The young man lunged at the deputy, who then had to grab him, and they struggled with each other."

Jackson suffers from a disability that Sweeney termed "auditory processing delays," making it difficult for him to follow oral instructions.

Jeremy Morse, an Inglewood police officer of three years who is seen striking the teen on the videotape, has been suspended. No action has been taken against the other three Inglewood officers or the two sheriff's deputies who were at the scene.

In Washington, Attorney General John Ashcroft released a statement Wednesday saying the Inglewood incident "troubles me greatly."

He has directed the FBI to begin an investigation, and a team from the Justice Department's community relations service was sent to the Los Angeles suburb.

Second beating allegation investigated
The Inglewood Police Department acknowledged Wednesday it is investigating a second complaint of a police beating.

Neilson Williams, 32, alleges that Inglewood police beat him unconscious without provocation in a public park in June.

"I was pretty much encountered by a fleet of Inglewood police officers who pretty much had no respect for me [or] anything," Williams told a news conference Wednesday.

"I was trying to tell them, and they just basically beat me to a pulp and almost beat me to death. That's about as blunt as I can put it."

A police report related to the incident lists Morse, the suspended officer, as a witness, but it is unclear from the document what role he might have had in Williams' allegation.

Inglewood Police Sgt. Ron Reagan characterized the matter as "an active internal affairs investigation that is not yet disposed of" and said such probes can take up to two or three months. Reagan offered no further details.

A police department statement from June 26 said officers answering a call of a disturbance by a group at a park suspected to be the scene of gang activity encountered Williams, who it said "became belligerent and uncooperative."

Officers believed Williams was under the influence "of some type of drug and/or alcohol," the statement said.

In attempting to arrest the 6-foot-4, 300-pound Williams, the statement said, "Officers utilized a carotid restraint hold ... in order to overcome his resistance."

Police said that when Williams stopped fighting they stopped using the hold. At that time they noticed that "Williams was breathing but not conscious. The police officers immediately summoned paramedics and monitored his breathing. Within minutes, suspect Williams was transported to nearby Centinela Hospital," the statement said.

I feel your pain.

Crooks was a real nut case in the 20-30 radio interview he did yesterday with KFI LA radio yesterday. Had two outstanding warrants for his arrest - a DWI and some petty theft thing if I recall.

So will they burn this area down again ?

HaHa !
Im dancing to your groove because the dumbass's
will burn down there own business's and only hurt
and bring shame on themselves, AGAIN !!!