Video appears to show officer kicking handcuffed man in head
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a holiday weekend use-of-force arrest captured on cellphone video that appears to show an officer kicking a handcuffed, leg-restrained Black man in the head during an encounter on a busy Hollywood street.
A Westminster woman who asked to be identified only as Camilla because she fears retaliation filmed a portion of the Sunday arrest in the 1600 block of Cahuenga Boulevard. She provided the Southern California News Group with an 8-minute copy of that profanity-laced video on Friday.
“You see stuff like this on TV, but when you actually see it live and in front of you, it is gut-wrenching because there is nothing you can do to help,” Camilla said.
The police response began about 7:15 p.m. following a report of a battery suspect at a marijuana dispensary.
“While taking the suspect into custody there were several separate use-of-force incidents,” Officer Drake Madison, a spokesman for the LAPD, said in a statement. “At one point, another male becomes involved when he tried to free the original suspect from the police. There was a use of force with that suspect as well. All the use of force with the suspects was reported as required.”
Madison said a bystander provided cellphone video of a portion of the arrest “showing what could have been an officer's boot striking the suspect's head.”
“This incident is reported use-of-force and the department is following appropriate protocol and investigating it,” the statement said.
The LAPD did not identify the male officer or say if he is on leave. Additionally, the department did not name the suspect or disclose any potential charges he may face.
During 2021, there were 2,261 incidents in which LAPD officers used force, compared to 2,201 in 2020, according to the department. Use-of-force statistics so far this year were not immediately available.
Camilla said she stumbled upon the Hollywood incident by chance. She was driving with friends to a human rights vigil on Sunset Boulevard when the group suddenly heard a cacophony of police sirens.
“It was not far from the location that we were going to and we were curious if it had something to do with the vigil,” Camilla said.
The group parked and walked several minutes before stopping at the spot where the sirens had been heard. There, they found a parked ambulance, the street blocked off by numerous police cruisers and more than 20 spectators lining the sidewalks, Camilla said.
Her video begins with more than a half-dozen LAPD officers gathered around a marked police vehicle. About 90 seconds later the officers can be seen pulling the heavy-set, bearded suspect from the back seat of the car, laying him on the street, and struggling to apply leg restraints.
The man seemed to resist and appeared to shout at the officers, but it is unclear from the video exactly what he said.
At 3 minutes, 11 seconds in the video, an officer tries unsuccessfully to pull the suspect up from the street and then plants his right foot in the man's face.
The crowd watching the incident unfold erupts.
“What the (expletive) was that, dude?” one spectator can be heard asking loudly. “What the (expletive) is wrong with you?”
After about seven minutes, police finally succeeded in hoisting the man into the rear of the patrol vehicle.
Camilla said she went to the LAPD's Hollywood area station on Tuesday to demand a badge number to identify the officer who kicked the suspect but was turned away. However, she said she was pleased to have preserved the incident on video.
“People need to see what's happening,” Camilla said. “This happened on a busy street and in front of many people. It makes you wonder what happens in dark alleys and corners. The public has been demanding accountability.”