This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The violent arrest of a suspect who was fleeing police on a horse has been described as “far worse than Rodney King” by the California man’s lawyer, after video appeared to show him being kicked and punched repeatedly.



Authorities in San Bernadino County, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, have launched an investigation after a three-hour chase through rough desert and hills ended in sheriff’s deputies swarming the suspect and apparently attacking him as he lay on the ground.

Footage taken from a news helicopter showed Francis Pusok, 30, overwhelmed by sheriff’s deputies in the incident, which occurred on Thursday afternoon. In a blur of limbs, Pusok was apparently pummeled with the officers’ fists, kneed and kicked in the head, groin and other parts of his body.

San Bernadino County sheriff John McMahon called the video “disturbing” and ordered an internal investigation.

Pusok’s family lawyer called for the officers involved to be arrested and fired.

“What I saw on television was thugs beating up my client,” said attorney Jim Terrell. “This is far worse than Rodney King.”

King, a taxi driver, was beaten by police officers during his arrest in LA in 1991, after a high-speed car chase. The notorious event was captured on video by a bystander, sparking public outrage and then serious riots in LA when the officers were acquitted of assault.

In San Bernadino County on Thursday, sheriff’s deputies were reportedly serving a search warrant on Pusok in connection with an investigation into alleged identity theft.

He allegedly fled in a car, which he then abandoned. Pusok is alleged to have stolen a horse after encountering a group of riders on the edge of the Mojave desert, and to have then led officers on a hazardous chase through the rough landscape, during which the horse was reportedly injured.

The deputies fired Tasers at Pusok, but his loose clothing reportedly hindered the effectiveness of the stun guns.

Police and news helicopters buzzed overhead as Pusok eventually came off the horse and was surrounded on the ground. He was taken to hospital; on Friday, his condition was not known.

Pusok’s family is considering a lawsuit against the police.

His girlfriend, Jolene Bindner, said: “I couldn’t believe it. The first thing I said was, ‘They can’t do that’.”