The man beaten at the end of a horseback pursuit in the high desert northeast of LA last week has claimed he ran away because of previous beatings he has received from lawmen.
Francis Jared Pusok, 30, claims he is afraid of law enforcement because "they beat me every time" in other encounters. He also said he is "terrified of them - every time I see them I get a stomachache."
The Apple Valley resident shared a surveillance video he claims shows a 2011 arrest by the San Bernardino Police Department in which he was also beaten.
And while he has prior convictions for resisting arrest, animal cruelty, disturbing the peace, attempted robbery and failure to provide evidence of financial responsibility, Pusok said he was knocked unconscious despite being innocent on that occasion, and was not even the suspect.
"They came up to my dad's house, threw me down on the ground and started beating me just the same," Pusok said. "They said I matched the description and that justified the reason for them to handcuff me."
He said pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace only to make the charges go away.
Pusok feels he has now paid his debt to society, but he said he was still targeted by deputies when he drove to a friend's house last Thursday, saying they charged his car despite him having no outstanding warrants.
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San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department deputies said they were in the process of serving a search warrant in an identity theft case, however Pusok's attorney said he was not their target.
"They tried to ram me with their car without even knowing who I was," Pusok said. "I drove away from him hoping that they were just gonna let it pass. I don't know why, I just was hoping they were going to know for some reason that I had nothing to do with whatever they wanted there."
Pusok said he then fled in fear and ended up being beaten at the end of a nearly three-hour pursuit which ended with him riding on horseback. He said he complied with deputies' orders to put his hands behind his back after he fell off the horse.
He said deputies cuffed both his hands and ankles. He then expected to be questioned, he said, but "they just beat me" instead. He said he felt he was "being beaten to death" during the episode.
And he believes he would have been treated the same no matter what he did.
"I believe it would've happened whether I ran or not," Pusok said.
Just a day after NBC4 captured the incident on camera Sheriff John McMahon placed 10 deputies on paid leave during an investigation. An FBI civil rights probe has also been launched.
