Alleged skateboarding police beating victim: 'LAPD mocked me'

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Weekley Jr. said the incident took place between 5:30 and 6 p.m. on Saturday, and that he was initially taken to the Pacific Division Police Department, where he was left in a holding cell for over an hour, still bleeding, “throwing up,” and “going in and out of consciousness.” The younger Weekley claims that while he was being held, various officers passed his cell, mocking him, including telling him he “looked like Evander Holyfield after he got beaten up by Mike Tyson.” He said officers refused to take him for medical treatment, adding that officers initially tried to clean him up at the scene, and “waved off” an EMS vehicle, but that once at the holding cell, a black officer eventually came to his aid.

Weekley said the officer, whose name he didn’t know, came into the cell and examined him, then “he turns to other officers and said, ‘this kid needs help. He looks like he’s going in an out of consciousness.'” He said the other officers insisted he was “cool,” but that the black officer insisted, telling the other officers, “get this man to a hospital right now.”

He said at that point, two officers picked him up and “dragged” him to another holding cell.

At some point, Weekley was taken to another facility, the “Glass House” on 180 N. Los Angeles Street, which is also called the Parker Center holding facility, where he said he was held for about four hours, after which he was finally transported to a hospital, where his attorney, Ben Crump, says he was treated for a concussion, as well as a fractured nose and cheekbone.

“He is a college student … a sophomore on summer break,” Crump said. “Police came to his house and tried to take him down by his hair, punched him four times, called him a ‘dumb ass'” and used other profanities, the attorney said.

Crump claims officers tried to claim Weekley’s injuries were caused when he was “jumped by other black people in the neighborhood.”

” They did not take him to get medical treatment,” Crump said. “They tried to clean up his face so people wouldn’t see what they did, but he kept saying he wanted to see his dad first.”

Weekley was charged with felony resisting an officer with violence. He was released on $29,000 bail.

“Twenty years after Rodney King, you would think the LAPD wouldn’t keep using this type of excessive force against his citizens,” Crump said, adding that police have tried to demonize Weekley Jr. by pointing to three prior warrants. “His warrants were for a curfew violation at age 15, a bicycle incident at age 16, and driving without a license at 18, and theyre trying to make him seem like a criminal.  He’s a college student, majoring in chemistry and pre-med.”

The LAPD has launched an internal investigation into the incident. And police spokesman Sgt. Frank Preciado, reached for comment by theGrio, indicated that there were four officers involved in the incident, though he said he didn’t have any of their names. And Preciado said Weekley caused the first responding officer to “fall to the ground,” prompting him to call for back-up, prior to Weekley being struck.

Preciado said the unit involved is a specialized task force attached to the LAPD’s Pacific Division, and that they were in the area to create a police presence to prevent crime. He said Weekley was creating a safety hazard by riding the wrong way in the road on his skateboard, and that he officers intended to stop and warn Weekley.

“The officers’ first intent was to make contact and warn the individual, but the Mr. Weekley decided he was going to walk away when they tried to speak to him,” Preciado said. “He became very uncooperative, at which point when the officers did make contact with him” for what the spokesman called a “2156A” violation for “pedestrian in the roadway.”

As to the violent turn the stop took, the officer said, “when they’re going to detain an individual and person is resisting, we’re going to use ‘objective reasonableness’ to determine the use of force.”

Preciado said the officers’ reports would not be made available while the internal investigation, led by the commanding officer, Capt. Brian Johnson, is under way. He said it is standard procedure for a person complaining of injuries to be treated by a “nurse or doctor”, and for family members to be informed of their loved one’s location once in custody.

The family held a press conference protesting Weekley’s treatment, and dozens of supporters protested the incident Monday night.

Asked whether the department is concerned about the incident souring relations with the African-American community in Los Angeles, Preciado said the LAPD is “always concerned.”

“We pride ourselves on having a great relationship with all the members of the community,” Preciado said. “We’re not in a position where we Monday morning quarterback this situation. We don’t know what transpired prior to Mr. Weekly being struck. This wasn’t a typical misdemeanor. That’s why he was booked for felony resisting with force.”

Follow Joy Reid on Twitter at @thereidreport