St. Louis police are investigating after a YouTube video surfaced showing a city officer beating a man with his nightstick. The department issued a Tuesday statement saying all the circumstances are not yet known, but that the New Year's Day video is "disturbing."The officer is on administrative duty pending the completion of the department's investigation. The video was shot at a convenience store, through an uninvolved vehicle's window.
Convenience store owner Joel Platke says the off-duty officer was working security when a young man came in and caused a disturbance. He says the video doesn't show the man grabbing at the officer's ankles and that he believes the officer did nothing wrong. YouTube had removed the video by midafternoon Tuesday.