DETROIT (AP) -- Police officers beat a motorist to death with a 
flashlight, continuing to strike him even after he was handcuffed 
and paramedics had arrived, the police chief said Friday. Seven 
officers who took part or watched, including a supervisor, were 
suspended without pay.  
   In a case that bore some similarities to the beating of motorist 
Rodney King in Los Angeles 20 months ago, officers inflicted fatal 
head injuries on 35-year-old Malice Wayne Green after a traffic stop 
Thursday night, Chief Stanley Knox said.  
   The police department is carrying out an internal investigation and 
will report to the Wayne County prosecutor's office, Knox said. He 
wouldn't say what charges would be sought.  
   According to Knox, Green was stopped by two veteran plainclothes 
officers, whom he wouldn't identify. "We didn't get a good reason why 
the vehicle was stopped," he said.  
   The officers called for backup, and at least five more police officers
responded, including a sergeant, Knox said. 
   Green was black. Knox said the seven officers included blacks and whites. He
couldn't say whether race was a factor in the beating.  
   Also in question was when the beating started and how many officers were
physically involved.  
   "Not everyone actually struck a blow," the chief said. He said his
understanding was that the two officers who stopped Green were the ones 
who killed him.  
   "Indications are he may have been struck prior to his leaving his car," 
Knox said. "The fact remains he was struck and we are investigating to 
find out exactly when, where and how."  
   Green continued to be struck even while he was handcuffed and after
paramedics had arrived, Knox said.  
   Green died in the emergency room at Detroit Receiving Hospital.  
   Mayor Coleman Young said he was "shocked and sickened" by Green's death.  
   The victim's father, Jesse Green Jr., said he was unsure what happened.  
   "(Police) don't have to beat nobody like that," he said. "I don't care 
who it was."  
   In March 1991, Rodney King was repeatedly clubbed and kicked by Los 
Angeles police officers after a high-speed car chase in a Los Angeles 
suburb. King was badly injured. The beating was captured on videotape 
and led to a national outcry over police brutality, particularly of 
minorities. King is black.  
   The acquittals of four white officers on nearly all charges in the 
beating set off rioting in Los Angeles this spring in which 53 people 
were killed.