Concern was growing over the actions of San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies who were captured on video by a television news helicopter beating a suspect after a pursuit Thursday.
Sheriff John McMahon immediately called the incident "disturbing" and ordered an investigation, and there were calls from the man's family and the American Civil Liberties Union for more action from authorities.
In the video, deputies are seen repeatedly kicking and punching a suspect at the end of a bizarre horseback pursuit. A KNBC Channel 4 helicopter captured the chase, which appears to show the deputies striking the man, identified as 30-year-old Francis Pusok, even after he was on the ground with his hands behind his back
Pusok had “obviously surrendered, followed commands to keep his hands behind his back -- that would be the time for the deputies to drop the knees on him and get him handcuffed,” Meyer said. “But it didn’t happen, and they will have to answer for the force they used on him.”
During the beating, which involved as many as 11 deputies and lasted for about two minutes, Pusok was kicked and kneed about a dozen times and punched more than two dozen times, according to the video.