LAPD Attack Mentally Ill Black Man

Los Angeles Police Department officials are investigating whether excessive force was used in an incident that shut down Figueroa Street for 15 to 20 minutes Monday afternoon, said Sergeant C. Perkins. One taser was used as police officers detained a man with a mental illness near the intersection of Figueroa and 28th streets, Perkins said. The man was not arrested but sent to a hospital for evaluation of a mental illness.  Witnesses said that the man was sitting in an ambulance when police officers tried to remove him. "I saw them pulling him out of the ambulance, and all of a sudden lots of police officers were on top of him," said Juan Cruz, a worker at Del Taco. Cruz described the detainee as a black man in his 50s to 60s. At least 10 squad cars and 20 police officers were at the intersection. The squad cars did not respond to a call, and they were already in the area before the incident ­- possibly to get food at one of the local restaurants, Perkins said. Cruz said that there were a lot of police officers who converged on top of the man. [more ]