LA Police may have feared man was armed

LOS ANGELES, June 26 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles police officer seen on video striking a man said Saturday he hit the suspected car thief because an officer said the man was armed.

The beating of the African American suspect, 36-year-old Stanley Miller, came at the end of a 28-minute car chase Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. Officer John Hatfield said he delivered the blows to get the suspect to submit to officers. The object one officer mistook for a gun turned out to be wire cutters.

Two other officers at the scene supported Hatfield's account, sources said. Additionally, radio transmissions were made during the pursuit, in which officers said the subject looked as though he may have been arming himself.

Attorney Mark Werksman said it shouldn't have mattered if Miller had wire cutters in his pocket or not.

"It's a Keystone Kops response to scream, 'Gun,' and pound a guy 11 times with a flashlight when he's already pinned to the ground and then say, 'Oops, guess it was a pair of wire cutters,'" the lawyer said. "It's preposterous."