LOS ANGELES -- Police in Los Angeles on Monday launched a probe into the videotaped beating of a Black teenager by a white policemen in a scene reminiscent of the attack on Rodney King that led to riots here 10 years ago.

The incident, that took place Saturday at a gas station in the Inglewood area, was captured on video by an amateur cameraman who saw the arrest of the young car passenger from a nearby hotel.

The dramatic film shows a police officer picking up the handcuffed 16-year-old boy and slamming his face down on the hood of a squad car.

The officer then punched the youth in the head while he was pinned to the car.

Police then booked the youth, who had been a passenger in a vehicle pulled over on suspicion that its driver was driving on a suspended driver's license, for allegedly assaulting a police officer.

He was later released following medical treatment, but police said Monday that an investigation had been launched into the incident that recalled the 1991 beating of black motorist Rodney King.

That beating, which took place after a high-speed chase and was captured on video, led to the worst race riots in U.S. history after the policemen accused of assaulting him were acquitted by a mostly white jury in April 1992. "The incident is being taken very seriously," said Inglewood Police Lieutenant Eve Irvine, describing the tape as "extremely disturbing."

Both the Inglewood police department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department had launched probes, she said.

The officer accused of slamming the youngster down on the car has been relieved of his duty and placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Three other officers who were present were also under investigation to decide if they used excessive force.

Irvine said one of the policemen and the boy -- whose family says he suffers from a "developmental disability," were involved in an altercation that was not captured on the videotape in which the officer suffered lacerations.

But the attorney for the boy's family, Joe Hopkins, slammed the officers' behavior, saying the video would become key evidence in a lawsuit the family plans to file against the city of Inglewood. "My reaction is that nothing has changed since Rodney King," Hopkins told reporters. "They've done a grave injustice to this young man, and they need to 'fess up and do what's right by him."

He said the boy suffered injuries to his neck and eye, adding that the youth appeared to have been beaten before the video recording began as he was already "in a daze" when he was banged down on the police car.

The case immediately sparked passionate reaction in this ethnically diverse city that was torn apart by the 1992 riots.

Community activists demanded that the four officers involved in the latest incident be fired and prosecuted, and insisted that the investigation into it be carried out by an independent body and not by the police.

"Its like the fox watching the hen house," said activist Najee Ali. "You don't let police investigate police. That's why you have outside investigators. That's how you can stop police corruption and police abuse."

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Sergeant Richard Myers said two deputies stopped a vehicle driven by a 41-year-old man and cited him for driving with a suspended license.

The boy -- who was a passenger in the car then got into a confrontation with four Inglewood police officers who had been standing as back-up, and became "combative," Myers said.

"Force was needed to subdue him and take him into custody," he said but Mitch Crooks, the amateur photographer who filmed the incident said he was shocked by the police action.

"This is disgusting, you know? I mean, we all love our police and our firemen, but this has got to stop. I saw the guy getting beat and I was shocked that I was seeing what I was seeing," he told KCAL 9 local television.