Alex Wigglesworth
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Fire Department has launched an investigation into a video posted on social media that shows firefighters punching and kicking a man outside Station 6 in Silver Lake on Friday.
The man had allegedly tried to break into the station, said Officer Norma Eisenman, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman.
The video, which was first reported by ABC7, shows one firefighter punching the man while two others struggle with him. The man then falls to the ground and the firefighters drag him toward the sidewalk, with one of them kicking him.
Officers responded to the station about 2 p.m. Friday for a report of trespassing and placed the man on an involuntary psychiatric hold, Eisenman said. Police were told there had been previous incidents involving the man and the fire station, she added. The incident remains under investigation, she said.
The LAFD has launched an internal investigation and assigned the firefighters involved to administrative duties pending its outcome, the department said in a statement. The department has also filed a restraining order against the man, the statement said.
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