Four Glendale police officers have been placed on administrative leave after bystander video captured officers apparently using force during an arrest at a mall.
About 7:10 p.m. on Saturday, officers in plainclothes and in uniform responded to a theft at a business inside the Glendale Galleria mall, the department said in a news release Wednesday.
Officials said “a struggle ensued” during the attempt to detain the suspect at a Dick’s Sporting Goods and the officers used force. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of petty theft and resisting an officer by force.
Footage of the incident, which was obtained by news outlets, shows three men — including one in a police uniform — punching and kicking a person in the face while he is on the ground. A woman in plainclothes restrains the detained person’s legs.
CBSLA has reported that the person being detained was a male teenager.
The department said that the officers would be placed on leave while it investigates the arrest and that it’s looking for witnesses who were inside the mall or the store who can provide more information.
“Glendale police officers are held to a high standard and we work hard to maintain the trust of our community,” the department said. “We take these types of incidents very seriously.”
