US shamed by new police beating

A shocking home video showing police officers punching a black teenager has led to fears of a repeat of the Rodney King race riots which rocked America, leaving 52 people dead and large swathes of Los Angeles in flames.

The film shows police hitting the teenager and then slamming his head against the bonnet of a patrol car.

In 1992 the spark for a mass outbreak of violence and looting was a jury's decision to clear four white policemen over a prolonged assault the previous year on 25-year-old black motorist Mr King - even though the unprovoked beating had been captured on video.

Convictions were eventually gained but now, 10 years on, another amateur film has forced the launch of a similar investigation after a boy of 16 is shown being viciously manhandled by police.

The footage, which was shot from a nearby motel, begins with the handcuffed boy, Donovan Chavis-Jackson, lying on the ground surrounded by police. It then shows him being grabbed roughly by the back of his neck and hauled to his feet.

He is then thrown against the patrol car and as his head slams onto the boot, his body seems to go limp like a rag doll.

One of the officers holding him punches him in the face as another again grabs his neck from behind. Mitch Crooks, who made the tape, said: "I don't think that he was resisting. I mean, there were five cops. The guy picked him up like he was a doll and slammed him on the car and he wasn't resisting at that point. They already had him in custody."

The sheriff 's department has been trying to play down the scuffle, saying a fight erupted after two LA County sheriff 's deputies stopped a car for a routine traffic check in Inglewood.

Deputy Bill Spear said they were joined by three local officers and "became involved in an altercation" with a 16-year-old passenger in the car. Mr Crooks began shooting the video as the suspect was on the ground and already handcuffed. At one point, one of the officers is seen with a cut above his left ear but how he got the cut is not on the tape.

The teenager was arrested for investigation of assault on a police officer. The boy's father Coby Chavis, 41, was accused of driving with a suspended licence. Inglewood police declined to name the officers involved. The tape has been handed over to police for investigation and has also been released to local media outlets. Jeremy Morse, one of the police officers shown delivering a blow to the teenager's face, was suspended yesterday as civil rights groups called for a federal inquiry.

The Chavis-Jackson family's lawyer, Joe Hopkins, alleged that one of the officers called Donovan a "nigger" during the altercation, proving that it was racially motivated. Mr Hopkins said: "We intend to seek justice in the courts unless we get a call from the proper authorities saying: 'We want to do the right thing without a jury'."