New video has prompted an internal investigation in what police are calling a "use of force incident" that happened in Hayward on Sunday.
A witness captured a portion of the disputed arrest from their vehicle at a shopping center parking lot on Santa Clara St. near Jackson St.
The minute-long cell phone video shows multiple police officers, guns drawn and directed at the suspect, standing behind a police vehicle’s driver’s side door. The officers yell at the suspect, who is lying on his back with both hands behind his head. Officers then fired a non-lethal shot and approached the suspect with their guns still drawn, as reported by KPIX-5.
The suspect repeated "I’m going to sue you," multiple times as he was restrained.
One officer can be seen kicking him and another punching him repeatedly.
It's not clear what led to the incident as captured on the video.
Retired San Jose Police sergeant Frederick Kotto told the station that while the video may be shocking, it isn’t necessarily excessive.
"Even those punches, which I didn’t think were excessively brutal or devastating, I think even that could have been avoided had these officers known really good submission techniques and arrest control techniques," Kotto said. "But again, hearts are pounding, people are nervous and scared, and a situation like that, someone could die."
Hayward Police said the suspect, 35-year-old Keith Swain, was arrested and faces charges of being a felon in possession of firearm, illegal possession of ammunition, altering/replacing identifying marks on a firearm and resisting a peace officer.
Officers also recovered a firearm, police said.
"We are aware that cell phone video footage was recently posted to a social media site, which depicts a use of force incident involving Hayward Police Officers," the Hayward Police Department said in a statement released on Tuesday. "The circumstances surrounding this incident are currently under review by the Hayward Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit."
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