[Dionysus]

Man Who Taped Calif. Beating Nabbed
Thu Jul 11, 5:24 PM ET

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The bystander who videotaped a violent arrest
by Inglewood police but had avoided a grand jury subpoena was
arrested Thursday on outstanding warrants for petty theft.

Mitch Crooks, 27, was picked up outside
CNN offices, said district attorney's
spokesman Sandi Gibbons.

Crooks was at an Inglewood motel Saturday
when he videotaped officers arresting
16-year-old Donovan Jackson at a gas station
across the street.

The tape shows a handcuffed Jackson, who is
black, being hoisted to his feet by white
Inglewood police Officer Jeremy Morse and
slammed onto the rear of a patrol car, then
slugged by the officer.

Amid a public outcry, investigations were
begun by Inglewood police, the Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department, the county
district attorney and the FBI ( news - web
sites).

In an unusual disclosure, Chief Deputy District
Attorney Curt Livesay revealed Wednesday
during a radio program that Crooks was being
sought by the grand jury investigating the arrest.

Crooks was doing a telephone interview with the radio program when
the prosecutor's call was put through. He told Crooks that there was a
subpoena for him to appear before the grand jury Thursday and he
should bring the original videotape of the arrest.

Crooks responded that he was afraid of being jailed and hung up before
telling the prosecutor where he was.

On Thursday, Crooks was arrested on warrants for petty theft and
driving under the influence with a hit and run, Gibbons said.

Capt. Rick Armstrong of the Placer County Sheriff's Department said
he had no details about the warrants or which police agency issued
them.