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A police officer accused of beating a Calumet City teen has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an independent investigation, Mayor Michelle Qualkinbush said Friday. "He's been put on administrative leave today after consultation with the Office of Professional Standards director," Qualkinbush said. "The investigation remains open, and no determinations have been reached." The office has been assisting the Cook County state's attorney's office in the investigation of an Aug. 26 incident in which Don Pennington Jr., 15, a sophomore at Thornton Fractional North High School, charges he was beaten. Pictures showed Pennington with a swollen eye and cuts to his head and neck that he said he received after the officer punched him in the face unprovoked as he waited in the station for a jaywalking citation. Davis could not be reached for comment Friday, but he has charged that race may have motivated the officer, who is white, to beat Pennington, who is African-American. "You don't have any of the white residents of Calumet City complaining of police officers abusing their children," Davis said before he led a demonstration in front of City Hall on Thursday night. [more

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