San Diego police have launched an investigation after two cops were caught on cellphone video repeatedly punching a homeless black man dur...
San Diego police have launched an investigation after two cops were caught on cellphone video repeatedly punching a homeless black man during an arrest for allegedly urinating in public.
The violent arrest unfolded around 9 am Wednesday morning in the affluent seaside neighborhood of La Jolla.
Shocking footage of the incident, posted on social media, shows one of the officers rush at the black man before he and his colleague tackle him to the ground.
The officers were then seen striking the man in the face, head and leg as the witness who recorded the scene is heard gasping and yelling at them to stop.
Neither the victim nor two officers have been publicly identified. The witness, Nicole Bansal, said she recognized the homeless man from the area and insisted he had never posed a threat as she blasted the officers' actions as 'so excessive and unnecessary'.
San Diego police have launched a probe after two cops were caught on cellphone video repeatedly punching a homeless black man during an arrest for allegedly urinating in public
San Diego Police Department spokesman Lt. Shawn Takeuchi said in a statement the officers saw the 34-year-old man urinating in public and asked him to stop.
One of the officers then struck the man 'several times' after he would not comply with their orders, he said.
'The man would not stop to speak with officers therefore an officer held the man to detain him,' Takeuchi said.
'Despite the officers repeatedly telling the man to 'stop resisting,' the man would not comply. One of the officers struck the man several times.'
He said department officials are aware of the cellphone video of the incident.
A probe has been launched by the force's internal affairs unit, including a review of body-worn camera footage.
The cellphone footage begins with the black man standing in the road shoeless and wearing a faded orange life preserver around his neck.
One of the officers is seen holding onto his right arm as he appears to try to walk forwards. His left hand is also visible at all times and is empty.
The footage is captured through the front windscreen of Bansal's vehicle from across the street.
The second officer is in front of them. Suddenly, this officer rushes at the homeless man and grabs him from behind around the neck.
The two cops then tackle the man to the ground and pin him down as he struggles.
At this point, the officer who rushed at him punches the homeless man twice directly in the face.
Bansal is then heard gasping and yelling, 'Stop!'
The violent arrest unfolded around 9 am Wednesday morning in the affluent seaside neighborhood of La Jolla. One of the officers is seen holding onto his right arm as he appears to try to walk forwards. His left hand is also visible at all times and is empty
The second officer suddenly rushes at the homeless man and grabs him from behind around the neck (left). The two cops then tackle the man to the ground (right)
The man can be seen yanking a radio off one officer's belt and throwing into the street, then trying to punch or swipe at the face of the officer who had hit him.
For the next 2½ minutes, the officers keep the man pinned to the ground as they shout commands for him to stop resisting.
The cop who punched him holds down his upper body while the other holds his lower body.
The two officers strike the man several more times with the cop holding his lower body down punches the back of the man's legs several times.
Sirens are heard ringing out as other officers arrive on the scene.
They tackle the man to the ground as he struggles. The two cops end up on top pinning him down
At this point, the officer who rushed at him punches the homeless man twice directly in the face. Bansal is then heard gasping and yelling, 'Stop!'
Two more officers are seen arriving and running over to help the cops restrain the man on the ground.
Another police SUV then pulls up, blocking Bansal's view.
'This is insanity. Eight cops, four cop cars,' Bansal says.
'Finally an ambulance,' she adds.
At least three police vehicles and an ambulance are visible before Bansal's recording ends.
The homeless man was taken to a hospital before being booked into county jail on suspicion of three felony counts of resisting an officer, three misdemeanor counts of battery on a police officer and a misdemeanor count related to throwing the radio.
He was still being held in jail Thursday on $20,000 bail, reported the San Diego Tribune.
Local homelessness advocates are working to post bail for the black man.
Meanwhile, it is not clear if the two officers involved in the incident are still on the streets or if they have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the San Diego Police Department for more information.
Bansal told the Tribune she often passes the homeless man while walking her dog and that he usually talks to himself.
She said he has never made her feel threatened.
'It's so excessive and unnecessary,' she said of the incident, as she said she saw no attempt to deescalate the situation.
'There was no movement made to de-escalate,' Bansal said.
'The immediate movement was to take him down. I don't understand.'
The man can be seen yanking a radio off one officer's belt and throwing into the street, then trying to punch or swipe at the face of the officer who had hit him. For the next 2½ minutes, the officers keep the man pinned and strike him several more times
Two more officers are seen arriving and running over to help the cops restrain the man on the ground
At least three police vehicles and an ambulance are visible before Bansal's recording ends
The incident has been condemned by local officials and civil rights leaders.
San Diego Councilman Joe LaCava, who represents La Jolla, blasted the violent arrest 'a tragedy and a disgrace.'
'This should not have happened. The Police Department has launched an investigation but officers should not be put in a position to address a situation better suited for behavioral health professionals,' he said.
'We must take immediate action to change how our city responds to these situations.'
In an email to Chief David Nisleit, Francine Maxwell, president of the NAACP San Diego branch, wrote that 'to yell 'stop resisting' and to continually punch and slap this man was clearly not conducive to calming the situation.'
Maxwell cited the department's de-escalation policy, implemented last summer.
'This man posed no obvious threat, had no apparent weapons and no one else was near. We want to know that this incident of violence will be properly investigated, and be assured that these officers will not be exonerated for this assault on an unarmed black man,' she wrote.
The police department introduced the policy in June amid protests following George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis
It requires officers try to de-escalate situations including by trying 'to establish an effective line of communication with (a) subject' and take into account 'any known or perceived disabilities, including mental illness.'
It also states that cops must 'take into consideration that a subject with a diminished capacity may not have the ability to understand or communicate effectively.'
The incident comes amid nationwide calls for an end to police brutality and systematic racism in the wake of multiple police killings of black people.
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