officers - The Black Vault

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I
Timothy Wind
•
last week-to his watch commander:sdesk.
Among them was the following
exchange between Koon, who had
fired a 50,000-volt Taser electric
dart gun at King, and an unidentified
officer who was sitting at the
watch commander's desk in the
Foothill Division. ·
· Koon: "You just had a big time
use of force . . . tased and beat the
suspect of CHP pursuit, Big time."
Officer at desk: "Oh well . . ·. I'm
sure the lizard didn't deserve it ...
HAHA I'll let them know, O.K."
Koon then tells the other officer
that he is going to return to the
· station "for a fresh taser and
darts."
Responds the desk: "Okey dok
on the ACC (watch commander]
"desk ... You want extra darts???
It's got two." ·
In a later exchange, the foot
patrol officers in Sunland-Tujunga
were told in a message from Pow­
'ell's and Wind's car about the
beating.
"Oops," was .the initial message
from the car of Powell and Wind.
"Oops, what?" was the response.
"I haven't beaten anyone this
bad in a long time."
The foot beat officers responded:
"Oh not again. Why for you do that
. . • I thought you agreed to chill
out for a while .•. What did he do
"
"I think he was dusted . . •• many
broken bones later . . . after the
pursuit," was the message that
came back.
Neither Powell nor Wind has
been previously disciplined, and it
was unclear what was meant by
"not again." Also unclear was the
meaning of the word "dusted,"
although police officials surmised it
~urence M. Powell
could have .referred to the drug
-PCP-also known as angel dust.
Authorities have said the' officers
at the scene thought King was on
·pep, but toxico_Iogy tests later
showed no evidence of drugs or
alcohol.
In addition to the log, a second
audiotape of the incident was made
public by the Police Department on
Monday. On the tape, either Powell ·
or Wind-LAPD officials said they
were not certain who-calls for an
ambulance, saying police have a
"victim." Another voice interjects:
"Of a beating." The first officer is
then heard chuckling.
Last week, a county grand jury
indicted Koon, Powell, Wind and
another officer, Theodore Briseno,
on felony charges of assault with a
deadly weapon and unnecessarily
beating a suspect under color of
authority.
Now, in an effort to·see if more
criminal charges can be brought,
investigators are reviewing the
actions of 11 other officers who
watched the beating but did not
intervene. A spokeswoman for
Reiner said prosecutors expect to
begin presenting additional evi·
dence to the grand jury next week.
King suffered numerous injuries
in the attack. According to police
officials, King was hit between 53
and 56 times by officers wielding
their batons. The bones holding his
·eye in its right socket were broken,
and he suffered 11 broken bones at
the base of his skull.
Black-and-white videotaped im·
ages of the beating, broadcast nationwide,
sparked a public outcry
over police misconduct, as well as
calls for Gates' resignation from
minority activists and other public '
figures, among them conservative
• columnist George Will, U.S. Sen.
Joseph Biden