Police investigating after video shows officers punching man in head

Four Arizona police officers are reportedly on administrative leave after video surfaced showing officers repeatedly punching a man during an incident late last month.

Mesa Police Chief Ramon Batista told a local NBC affiliate that he became aware of the video a week after the incident and has promised an investigation.

The footage shows Mesa, Ariz., police officers approaching a man standing near an elevator on his cellphone before the officers confront him physically, punching him several times in the face and torso before he is forced to the ground.

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Additional officers are seen joining in after the elevator opens.

Officers allege that the man, who is reportedly a friend of a domestic violence suspect, was refusing to sit down after being asked.

Though the man in the footage was not the original suspect, Mesa police have charged him with disorderly conduct, a local ABC affiliate reported.

Three officers and one sergeant have been placed on paid leave.

Batista has changed a department policy in response to this event, the NBC affiliate reported.

Officers are now not allowed to hit suspects in the face or head unless they’re fighting with them. Before the change, the policy could be interpreted that it would be OK to engage with a suspect before any physical altercation started. 

The footage in Mesa is the latest in a string of brutal police cases that have been made public in recent years. On Tuesday, it was reported that a sheriff’s department in Oregon was reviewing video of a deputy repeatedly punching a homeless man in the head.