1988 Video Shows Police Beating : Investigation: LAPD launches inquiry after tape of officer striking man with baton is shown on TV. Department spokesman calls images ‘very disturbing.’

Los Angeles police launched an investigation Friday of the police beating of a South-Central Los Angeles man after an amateur videotape of the 3-year-old incident was broadcast by a local television station.

“The images on it were very disturbing,” said police spokesman Lt. Fred Nixon. “We are investigating it, and we would like to get it concluded as soon as possible.”

The tape shows a Los Angeles police officer chase a man onto his front porch on 43rd Street, strike him in the stomach with a baton and shove him over a porch railing into the front yard. The tape then shows the officer follow the man to the side of an adjacent garage and strike him several times with the baton.

The videotape appears to contradict the police report of the June 29, 1988, incident. Police at that time alleged that an officer was punched by the man before the officer struck him.

KCBS-TV broadcast a portion of the eight-minute videotape during newscasts Thursday night. The tape was turned over to the station by a self-described former gang member who said he feared for his life.

Anthony Ennis, 26, said Friday that one of the policemen he captured on videotape from his front yard had threatened “to get” Ennis unless he turned over the tape to the officer. Ennis alleged that Officer Andrew Teague, who works the Newton station gang detail, demanded the tape the day of the beating, but Ennis managed to slip him a blank cassette instead.

“I am afraid for my life,” Ennis said.

Teague, 37 and a 14-year veteran of the department, could not be reached for comment on Friday, but Channel 2 reported Thursday night that the officer has denied harassing Ennis, did not recall the incident three years ago and knew nothing about the videotape.

The police report, which listed Teague as one of the reporting officers, noted that an “unknown male black” videotaped the incident.

At least one other officer was at the scene during the beating--at one point it appeared the second officer pinned the beating victim against a wall--but his identity was not immediately known.

Nixon described the police inquiry as a “full spectrum investigation” that will include the involvement of “any other officers.” Nixon declined to discuss the incident or Ennis’ allegations, citing the ongoing investigation.

Another amateur video five months ago captured the police beating of motorist Rodney G. King and touched off a political controversy that led to recommendations for an overhaul of the Los Angeles Police Department, including the retirement of Chief Daryl F. Gates.

As in the King case, the officers involved in the Ennis incident are white and police reports described the alleged victim as black.

On Monday, the city attorney’s office dismissed a complaint brought by Officer Teague and others against Ennis last January. Teague arrested Ennis outside his home for allegedly threatening to kill the officer and his family. A police report filed at the time quoted Ennis as saying, “We’re not afraid to shoot the police. I’ll shoot you the next chance I get.”

Ennis said Friday that he never made the threat and that the arrest was part of a harassment campaign by Teague because of the videotape. Deputy City Atty. Peter Shutan said he dismissed the case because he found “there was a lack of probable cause” for the arrest.

“I don’t think there was a likelihood of conviction,” Shutan said Friday.

Ennis, dressed in shorts and sandals and joined by his mother and two attorneys, brought the videotape to Parker Center on Friday for police officials to view. Distrustful of the police, Ennis insisted that Channel 2 reporter Mike O’Connor also be present during the meeting, which lasted about 15 minutes.

Nixon and a representative from the department’s internal affairs division watched the tape, but Ennis did not leave a copy and he refused to be interviewed by police officials. Attorney Celeste M. Mulrooney, who represents Ennis, said police would be given a copy of the tape next week, and she promised Ennis’ cooperation once he has more time to confer with his attorneys.

“The tape itself is not the major issue,” Mulrooney said. “The major issue is that someone who has evidence of potential police misconduct has been harassed and threatened to the point where he feels he has to go to the news media for protection.”

Ennis said Friday that he decided to break his long public silence about the videotape on Monday after the city attorney dismissed the case against him. He said he feared that Teague would use the case, regardless of its outcome, as an excuse to harm him.

“It is on my record now,” Ennis said.

Ennis identified the victim of the beating as Sonny David Flores. Flores, who was 19 at the time of the 1988 incident, could not be reached for comment. The extent of his injuries, if any, was unknown.

The videotape, which was viewed by a Times reporter, appears to show no resistance by Flores, who had been standing on his front porch while Teague and another officer arrested a man on the sidewalk.

The police report filed after the incident states that Flores initiated the conflict by punching Teague in the neck. It also states that Flores was “swinging his fists” at Teague and attempted to kick the officer.

The videotape, by contrast, shows Teague--his baton in his right hand--approaching Flores after Flores shouted at him and the officer shouted back. When Flores attempted to run into his house, the officer grabbed him, struck him and pushed him over the porch railing.

Ennis, an unemployed father of two, said he was once an active “gang banger” in the neighborhood, but left the gang five years ago when his wife became pregnant. He said that several months after the videotape incident, Teague returned to the neighborhood and roughed him up, leaving a scar above his right eye.

Ennis said he complained twice to internal affairs about Teague, but was told by one sergeant that the officer was simply doing his job. Police declined comment.

Channel 2 officials said they did not pay Ennis for the videotape, but Ennis said two other television outlets have since paid him a total of $1,500 for use of the video.