Questions of racism arose, and images of Rodney King resurfaced, when a group of Philadelphia police officers were filmed beating a black suspect while arresting him. Thomas Jones, 30, who served time for robbery, assault, and theft, was wanted for assaulting an elderly woman while hijacking her car. Jones led police on a wild high-speed chase through crowded streets, nearly running over police and plowing into a crowd of funeral mourners, crashed the car, exchanged gunfire with police in which he was shot several times, still managed to commandeer a police cruiser, and started another chase before finally being stopped and dragged out of the car. Two of the officers who eagerly subdued the suspect were themselves black. One of the officers trying to handcuff Jones received a bite.

†