LAPD officer charged with assault for beating arrest

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- An LAPD officer has been charged with assault in connection with the beating of a 22-year-old man who was being taken into custody.

The officer, Richard Garcia, has not been in the field since the incident that happened near Avalon Boulevard and 55th Street on Oct. 16.

"I just want to thank God for some type of justice," said Clinton Alford, Jr. "It's been a long journey, and I've been going through a lot physically and mentally."

Prosecutors say Clinton Alford matched the description of a robbery suspect and fled when officers approached him. He surrendered after a foot chase.

Alford said he was riding his bicycle when someone shouted for him to stop, but he kept pedaling because the man did not identify himself as a police officer. When someone grabbed the back of his bike, he said he jumped off and ran.

His attorney, Caree Harper, says Alford was face down trying to surrender when he was kicked in the head repeatedly.

A store's surveillance camera captured the incident, but the video has not been released, and LAPD has stated that they have no plans to release the video.

Harper wants LAPD Chief Charlie Beck to release that video and says Garcia should be fired.

"It is a first step to charge the officer, but a better step is to terminate him. We're not done. We want his job," she said. "Charging him is not enough. We do not want him to be a police officer in the city of Los Angeles anymore."

Garcia pleaded not guilty in court on Monday to battery under the color of authority. He is due back in court in June.

All charges against Alford were dropped. Alford is now suing the LAPD in federal court.