officers - The Black Vault

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· "It is not a rejection [of the case]
forever, or an indication that we
are· going to file," said Roger
Gunson, head of the district attorney's
Special Investigations Division.
Meanwhile, accounts from the
California Highway Patrol suggested
that what should have been
a relatively simple arrest at 12:30
a.m. Sunday morning escalated
wildly out of control.
The pursuit of King's white 1988
Hyundai was initiated by CHP
officers, who estimated that King's
car was hitting speeds as high as
115 m.p.h. on the westbound Foothill
Freeway. The CHP said they
called for assistance and had pulled
King over in Lake View Terrace in
the San Fernando Valley when
several LAPD officers "jumped into
the mess," said a law enforce~
ment source familiar with the report
CHP officers filed with their
supervisors.
When the sedan finally stopped
in the 11700 block of Foothill
Boulevard, King was ordered out of
the car via a loudspeaker and he
"appeared to be acting funny, but
not violent-laughing and pointing
up to the LAPD helicopter that was
there."
The source said that a police
sergeant told the CHP that his
officers would handle things. Witnesses
said King was already lying
on the ground when a police officer .
shot him with a stun gun, delivering
an electrical shock of 50,000
volts. Officers then clubbed him
wildly. There was a brief lull and
· King lay silent until , one officer
stomped on his head.
One of the CHP officers at the
scene exhorted the police officers
to stop the beating but was told, in
effect, to "stay out of it," according
to the source.
"Basically, -they beat the guy
half to death," the source said.
King was later ~ogtied, with
handcuffs around his wrists
and ankles, then taken away in an
ambulance. .. .
As King talked.about the beating
Wednesday, his speech was slurred
and repetitive. He seemed dazed.
And his account of what led to the
attack differed considerably from
that offered by police.
"There was no chase," King
contended, insisting that he was
doing 45 m.p.h. in a 35-m.p.h. zone.
After he pulled his car to a stop,
King said he was told to put his
hands in full view and that he
complied. Police told him to get out
of the car and lie down, and ·King
said he did.
"They shocked me· ... they
paused for a minute and then they
struck me across the face real hard
with a billy club,'' King said; his.
face lopsided With swelling and a
fresh scar on his right cheek. He
lifted his hospital garb to show
other marks, a large bruise on his
chest, a fading one on his arm, part
of his right leg in a cast. .
"My ankles. They beat where it
hurt in my ankles, they beat my
whole body where it hurt. • . . It
hurts real bad."
King, who stands 6-foot-3 and
weig~s 225 pounds, said he did not
resist police. ·
"No, no, no. I wouldn't strike
back," King said. "I don't think no
one would strike back against four
or five guns aimed at him."
King's attorney, Rober~ Rentzer,
said some of King's teeth were
knocked out. A doctor who treated
him said King took at least 20
·stitches, five of them in the mouth,
and had so many cuts 'that he
required antibiotics to prevent infection.
"He looked like he was run over
by a freight train," Rentzer remarked.
"He is in pain and has
some problems with his memory.
The word terrible doesn't describe
how he looks."
The investigation into the alleged
police brutality moved steadily
forward Wednesday.
John R. Dunne, assistant U.S.
attorney general for civil rights,
said the Justice Department is
conducting a parallel inquiry to
ensure that local authorities do a
proper job.
The violent images of white