Dennis RomeroA friend of 19- 20-year-old college student Ronald Weekley says he was beat up by overzealous LAPD officers in Venice on Saturday. The confrontation was captured on video (after the jump).
The friend, Alexis Parker, says Weekley was trying to avoid gangsters on the other side of the street when police asked him to stop — and then tackled him when he didn't.
The video shows one cop punching the skater:
Parker says Weekley suffered a broken chin bone, a broken nose and a concussion in the confrontation. Weekley is said to have been skateboarding home when it happened.
According to Parker's account, Weekley tried to ignore the officers at first because he thought they were going after gangsters across the street. He also didn't want to be a witness against the gangsters, the friend said.
When officers tackled him, he was “shocked” and “tried to “wiggle his way out,” Parker said via Twitter:
… They threw him on the ground and started beating him up.
Various reports have Weekley as a student at Xavier College but it appears he attends Xavier University of Louisiana.
KTLA News reports that Chief Charlie Beck himself will review the video. The station reported that Weekley was behind bars, booked for allegedly resisting arrest.
[Spotted at Yo! Venice!].
[Update at 2:45 p.m.]: Police have launched two internal investigations into the incident, including one by the LAPD's Internal Affairs group and one by the department's Inspector General, Commander Andrew Smith told the Weekly today.
He noted that Weekley was allegedly riding “in traffic right in front of the officers” when he was told to stop. The suspect was also the subject of a third investigation, this one into his own actions Saturday, Smith said.
The commander urged people to “stay calm” while the investigations proceed.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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