Nation IN BRIEF : TEXAS : Policeman Defends Beating of Suspect

A Ft. Worth, Tex., police officer videotaped striking a handcuffed suspect with a nightstick told a local newspaper that “I did what I was trained to do.” Officer Edward J. Parnell III arrested Ernest Alvin Anderson on July 3 for alleged car theft and was driving him to a police station when Anderson kicked out a rear side window and tried to escape. Parnell stopped the car and began beating Anderson. A woman videotaped the beating from a home near the highway. Parnell was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. “I’ve been trained in the academy to not let a felony prisoner escape. I’ve also been trained not to let somebody commit suicide,” Parnell said.