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10 California deputies suspended over beating of suspect

Saturday, 11 April 2015 12:48 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 11 April 2015 12:50 PM ]

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon

A Californian sheriff has suspended 10 deputies after a video emerged showing them severely beating a man who appeared to have surrendered and was lying on the ground.

The incident happened Thursday afternoon when 30-year-old Francis Pusok escaped in a car as the deputies approached his home serving a search warrant in connection with a theft investigation.

The video, captured by KNBC-TV from a helicopter, shows the officers pursuing Pusok, who is riding a horse through a desert, and then beating him after he surrenders.

It can be seen in the footage that Pusok falls off the horse before two deputies taser him and slam him to the ground.

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said on Saturday that the beating “doesn't appear to be in line with our policies and procedures."

"I am disturbed and troubled by what I see in the video," McMahon told reporters.

The officers involved in the beating have been placed on paid administrative leave, he added.

McMahon said Pusok was hospitalized and then jailed on several criminal charges, including felony evasion and possession of stolen property.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it had launched an investigation into the incident and that the results would be sent to federal prosecutors.

HRJ/HRJ

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