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Shocking video shows the moment a white police officer kneed and kicked a black man while he was down on the ground.
The video was recorded by Damian Trott, 24, who was in Pittsburgh celebrating his college graduation with his girlfriend early Sunday when the ruckus broke out.
The 10-second video shows one officer on top of the suspect, identified as 26-year-old Nathan
Stanley III, who is face-down on the ground.
Another officer knees and then kicks Stanley in the face, causing his head to twist 180 degrees.
After the video ended, Trott says officers pulled Stanley up and he had blood streaming down his face.
He told CBS Pittsburgh that he thought the arrest was 'excessive'.
'You had some people crying, people begging the police to stop. It was really just mortifying to watch somebody do that to another person,' Trott told WTAE.
The officer who arrested Stanley, Officer Raymond Toomey, explained in a criminal complaint that he was called to The Flats on Carson bar around 2am on Sunday because of a man who threatened to 'shoot ya'll up'.
Toomey said he told Stanley to leave, but that the man - who had a 'strong odor of alcohol' - refused to follow his orders and became belligerent.
'He made a motion that resembled a gun being shot with his hand passed my head towards The Flats bar security and said, "Don't worry I got somethin for ya'II."
'I then told [Stanley] that he was under arrest and to place his hands behind his back. Doe stated, "(Expletive) you, I don't have to do (expletive)," and began to reach towards his waistband area with his right hand and said "I got somethin for you too."
'Given the previous threats by [Stanley], his aggressive demeanor towards myself and bar security, and the manner in which he reached for his waistband area with his right hand, I greatly feared that an attack was imminent at the time and I did not know what Doe's capabilities were,' Toomey wrote.
Toomey says he tried to arrest Stanley but that he resisted. The bar security guard tried to help him, but was unsuccessful.
That's when another cop, Officer Welsh, arrived on the scene to aid the arrest.
Toomey says that Stanley tried to choke him so he hit him with two closed-fist punches to the suspect's midsection and then another two hits to the face.
He was eventually able to sweep Stanley's legs to the ground and while he was on the ground, Toomey says he 'delivered one knee strike and one kick to [Stanley's] facial area out of fear that [Stanley's] arms were underneath his body because he was still attempting to reach towards his waistband for a weapon'.
Shortly after, Toomey says he was finally able to get Stanley in handcuffs.
After the incident, no weapon was found on Stanley's person.
Toomey noted that the crowd was not helping the situation.
'[Stanley] continued to scream profanities and encourage the crowd to cause violence towards officers on scene to the point where a crowd began to form a semi-circle around PO Welsh and I,' Toomey wrote.
According to public records, Stanley was booked into the Allegheny County Jail on charges of aggravated assault, public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.
He was released after posting $10,000 bail.
His next court appearance is scheduled for May 18.
Trott told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he released the video of the incident in hopes of 'building a better relationship between police and the citizens they are supposed to be protecting.'
A Pittsburgh police spokesman refused to comment on the exact incident, but said that they are 'investigating' the arrest.
Anyone who witnessed the arrest is being asked to contact the City of Pittsburgh Office of Municipal Investigation to give their account of events.