Inglewood videotaper: 'I'm glad I did it'

Crooks

PLACERVILLE, California (CNN) -- The man who videotaped a white Inglewood police officer roughing up a black teen said Tuesday he has no regrets for filming the incident, though he now is in jail and claims he was subjected to "cruel and unusual punishment."

"I'm glad I did it," Mitchell Crooks told CNN's "Connie Chung Tonight," referring to the videotape. "I didn't hesitate, I didn't think about anything at all, I just knew that I was trying help out a fellow human being. That's all. I'd do it again. I'd do it 10 more times. I'd hope somebody would do it for me."

Crooks, 27, was taken into custody by plainclothes officers in Hollywood last Thursday after he failed to appear before a grand jury. As police took him away in an SUV, he could be heard repeatedly screaming, "Help!"

He was picked up on a warrant issued by Placer County in May 1999 when he failed to surrender for a seven-month sentence after being convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, hit-and-run and petty theft with a prior conviction.

Crooks pleaded not guilty Tuesday to violating his parole during a hearing in Placer County.

In the CNN interview, Crooks said he was "embarrassed" watching the video of him shouting for help after his arrest. "I guess that's how I feel, or the reaction I have, when I'm scared for my life," he said.

Crooks said the officers did not identify themselves before he was led away.

"I didn't know who they were. I didn't know why they were there. I didn't understand why I was being taken into custody," he said. "I wanted to speak to an attorney. At that point, I felt I was all alone in the world."

Crooks said he sustained several bruises during the incident and claimed to have pain in his hip and shoulder. At one point he was handcuffed for 22 hours outside his jail cell, he said.

"They had locked me outside of the cell, and my arm was in there. I couldn't sit down, I couldn't stand up and have any slack on it at all," Crooks said. "It was just cruel and unusual punishment to me."

Crooks' videotape shows a handcuffed Donovan Jackson, 16, being slammed on the trunk of a patrol car, then hit in the face by Inglewood police officer Jeremy Morse. The officer has since been suspended.

The video has prompted outrage in the community and by elected officials, including the mayor who has said the officer should be fired and prosecuted. The videotape has also resulted in numerous investigations, including a federal probe to see if the teen's civil rights were violated.

In recent days, activists and officials, including U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, a Democrat who represents the Inglewood area, have come to Crooks' defense, pushing for his release and praising him for his act.