A Los Angeles police officer whose violent arrest of a black teenager was caught on video has been indicted for assault.
Inglewood Officer Jeremy Morse - a white officer - is facing a charge of assault under colour of authority. An amateur cameraman taped Officer Morse slamming 16-year-old Donovan Jackson onto the trunk of a squad car and then punching him in the head.
Officer Morse has been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of federal, state and local investigations.
The incident has prompted comparisons to the 1992 Rodney King beating, which led to deadly race riots in LA.
The videotape was made by bystander Mr Mitchell Crooks. The tape shows Officer Morse lifting a handcuffed Jackson to his feet and slamming the teen's face into a car.
Officer Morse, who has a streak of blood next to his ear, then strikes Jackson on the face with his fist.
Mr Crooks was staying in a motel across the street from a gas station where Jackson and his father, Coby Chavis, had been stopped by police because the car they were in had expired vehicle tags.
Officer Morse said in a police report that Jackson was arrested after he struggled with officers, scratched him above his ear and grabbed the officer's testicles after being handcuffed.
Officer Morse was in "extreme pain" and punched Jackson to make him let go, according to the report.
PA