LA police officer suspended after hitting handcuffed teen

A police officer in Los Angeles has been suspended after a video shows him beating a handcuffed black teenager during an arrest.

Jeremy Morse, a three-year veteran, has been relieved of duty with pay.

The videotape recorded the victim being hoisted to his feet and then slammed onto the boot of a police car, while being arrested at a petrol station.

Police Lt Eve Irvine says a physical altercation had occurred before a tourist in a motel across the street began taping the arrest of 16-year-old Donovan Jackson.

He claims Jackson attacked at a sheriff's deputy before the taping began.

The officer put a hand on the back of the teenager's neck, punched him with his other hand and then appeared to choke him. Two officers tried to intervene, with at least one trying to pull away Mr Morse's arm.

Images from the petrol station's surveillance cameras will be viewed to determine what happened, says Lt Irvine.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney, Sandi Gibbons, said it was investigating whether the police committed any crimes.

Jackson was later booked for assaulting police officer.