at least these dumb pigs were smart enough to stop beating the guy when they knew a news copter was videotaping the beating Original Article St. Louis-area police punch, kick suspect who rammed police car Associated Press St. Louis The Missouri State Highway Patrol will determine whether four police officers stepped over the line in punching and kicking a suspect this morning. A police chase began in the St. Louis suburb Maplewood and ended in the city of St. Louis. Live television showed much of the chase, and the beating of the suspect. What could not be clearly seen on the video was how much resistance the man was providing. KTVI-TV video showed the suspect, Edmond Burns, 33, bloodied. He was hospitalized, but his condition was not known. Three Maplewood officers were also treated for injuries. None of the injuries was life-threatening. Three of the officers involved in subduing the suspect were from the Maplewood department and one was from St. Louis. Names of the officers were not released. ?This incident is disturbing from both sides and the city is investigating,? Mayor Mark Langston said in a brief release. Some activists with the St. Louis County NAACP likened the beating to the Rodney King case out of Los Angeles. All four officers are white; the suspect is black. Maplewood Police Chief James White, during a sometimes-contentious news conference Monday, cautioned against jumping to conclusions based upon the video. ?The question is, is the force appropriate for the situation?? White asked. ?Is it appropriate for the resistance? I don?t know any of that.? The NAACP also is asking that the officers involved be suspended until the investigation is complete. White said the officers are on injury leave for the next few days and have not been suspended. The incident began around 7 a.m. when Maplewood police believed a man in a GMC conversion van was acting suspiciously. The suspect allegedly tried to ram a police cruiser as he fled. A chase began, and TV video showed the van weaving through traffic at a high speed, with police in pursuit. ?Why was this chase taking place at the height of the morning?s rush hour?? the Rev. B.T. Rice of the St. Louis County NAACP asked. ?As the pursuit continued, they passed several school buses and little school-aged children standing on street corners.? Finally cornered in St. Louis city, the suspect?s van tried to ram a squad car before two other police cars rammed the side of the van. Video showed the man getting out and running. An officer tackled him, with the man?s head apparently striking the pavement behind a building. Other officers closed in, and video showed them punching and kicking the man for several seconds. Rice said it appeared that the officers stopped only when they noticed TV helicopters above them. ?Had not the media been on the scene, one wonders what might have happened,? he said. St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa said video of the arrest ?appears provocative, and it?s going to incite conversation.? Mokwa said St. Louis officers were told not to join in the pursuit because of a city policy, aimed at making sure that bystanders are not injured in a police pursuit. Maplewood has its own policy that reads in part, that the decision to initiate a pursuit ?must be based on the pursuing officer?s conclusion that the immediate danger to the officer and the public created by the pursuit is less than the immediate or potential danger to the public should the suspect remain at large.? Whether officers followed that policy was unclear because the report had not been written, White said. He hopes to have the report by Tuesday but said because of the officers? injury, it may not be finished before Friday. Attorney Chet Pleban, who is representing the officers, noted that the incident occurred on the second anniversary of the death of St. Louis Police Officer Nicholas Sloan. ?The fact of the matter is, it?s a violent job,? Pleban said. http://www.shortnews.com/shownews.cfm?id=52575&CFID=14344732&CFTOKEN=29869636 St. Louis Police Investigare Beating of Suspect St.Louis, MO - The NAACP is up in arms over the beating of a suspect involved in a police chase. Edmond Burns, 33, was arrested after leading officers from St. Louis and Maplewood on a chase that included the suspect ramming a police cruiser. The pursuit began in Maplewood around 7:00 am on Monday. Police tried to stop the suspect's GMC conversion van when he was seen acting suspiciously. Upon fleeing from police, the suspect reportedly rammed a police patrol vehicle. The pursuit ended in St.Louis when the suspect fled from his vehicle and was tackled by officers. Video shows the suspect, who is apparently black, being punched and kicked for a number of seconds. Three Maplewood officers received minor injuries. Source: www.springfieldnews-leader.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/31/AR2006013100572.html St. Louis Beating Prompts Calls for Action By JIM SALTER The Associated Press Tuesday, January 31, 2006; 11:53 AM ST. LOUIS -- Black activists on Tuesday called for the firing of police officers who were shown on live television swinging night sticks and punching and kicking a suspect after a car chase. The Missouri State Highway Patrol was investigating to see if the four officers involved had acted illegally. The suspect, Edmon Burns, 33, of St. Louis County, was treated at a hospital and released, and was jailed. No charges had been filed. His attorney did not return calls Tuesday. Burns and one of the four officers, from St. Louis, are black, The three other officers, from suburban Maplewood, are white. The chase began Monday in Maplewood, where officers said they noticed a man in a van acting suspiciously. It ended in St. Louis. Much of the chase was shown on live television shot from a WTVI-TV helicopter, along with the officers apparently beating the man for several seconds. What could not be clearly seen on the video was how much the suspect was resisting. Names of the officers were not released. Zaki Baruti of the St. Louis-based Coalition Against Police Crimes said the officers clearly stepped over the line in subduing Burns. "They tried to become the judge, jury and executioner on the spot," Baruti said. "Those officers need to be disciplined, need to be fired, and charged with assault." Baruti and the Rev. B.T. Rice of the NAACP questioned the need for a chase. Video showed the chase passing school buses and other vehicles. Maplewood Police Chief James White cautioned against jumping to conclusions. "The question is, is the force appropriate for the situation?" White said at a news conference. "Is it appropriate for the resistance? I don't know any of that." Burns has a long criminal record, White said. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported he tried to run from police in 2003 after being stopped for speeding in north St. Louis County. After that stop, he was arrested for felony criminal nonsupport of his daughter. The newspaper also cited court records showing Burns has been the subject of adult abuse orders for, among other things, allegedly threatening to kill a girlfriend.