Cop Crimes Round 3

This morning's LA Times reports that Donovan Jackson, the teen in the beating video, was hit twice by Officer Jeremy Morse's partner before he was even arrested.

Dozens of protesters in gathered in LA yesterday to demand Officer Morse be criminally charged for his misconduct. ``No justice, no peace, no racist police,'' the protesters chanted.

Jackson's attorney denies the version of the incident police put in their report. He claims that all four Inglewood officers "took turns" beating Jackson before the tape rolled.

In another twist to the case, as the cops were driving away from CNN with newly arrested Mitchell Crooks (the bystander/videotaper) in the car, Crooks was heard screaming, "Help, Me, Help Me."

Crooks was taken to the grand jury and then supposed to go to jail for his outstanding warrants. They had to take a detour to the jail. To the hospital. Seems there was a new altercation at or after Crook's grand jury appearance.

Crooks was taken to the jail ward at the LA County -USC hospital for "a sprained shoulder, a cut finger, numbness in his hands and bruises." Crooks' lawyer says Crooks believes the DA's investigators beat him up in retaliation for making the tape.

So what started this entire incident? According to the same LA Times article,

"The encounter occurred last Saturday evening when Jackson and his father, Coby Chavis, were at an Inglewood gas station and two sheriff's deputies stopped to investigate Chavis' expired vehicle registration tags. Jackson was leaving the station's market, holding a bag of potato chips, when he saw the deputies talking to his father.

Jackson tried to get into his father's car, ignoring deputies' commands to wait while they questioned Chavis, according to the officers and deputies."

All this over a teen eating a bag of potato chips who doesn't want to sit in a cop car cause he hasn't done anything wrong.

How often does this happen? Where can you learn more about police brutality, with a state-by-state reference guide. Check out CopCrimes which says its database is "the largest online resource for collecting information on law enforcement corruption and dishonorable deeds."