VIDEO: San Jose Police Use Of Force Questioned After Violent Arrest Caught On Camera
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- The San Jose Police Department's internal affairs division is investigating what some citizens described as "police brutality" in a three-minute, one second video that has already been viewed nearly 100,000 times, and is being watched more than 20,000 times an hour as of late Monday night.
The video shows an arrest that took place in a parking lot near Story and White Roads around 8:45 p.m. Saturday night. A family who was driving through the parking lot saw the incident and started recording.
Roberto Tejada said what he witnessed Saturday night was an injustice, and that's why his mother started recording the video.
The recording began with two police officers holding a suspect on the ground. Then more officers arrive and appear to kick and beat the suspect with their fists and billy clubs.
A witness yells, "Don't hit him, it's only one person" on the video.
A woman is heard screaming at officers in Spanish while another person translates, begging officers for restraint.
RAW VIDEO: Warning - explicit language
In the shaky video, a suspect appears to be on the ground but moves his arms and legs as a few officers surround him. More officers arrive and appear to use clubs and closed fists to continually hit the suspect as he laid on the ground for several seconds.
In the first photo taken from the uploaded video, the suspect appears to be on the ground but moving.
The second photo taken from the video shows more officers arriving, and one in the foreground raising his fist high as he hits what looks like the suspect's back.
Someone is heard moaning after the arrest.
Tejada told KPIX 5 in Spanish the police just can't do this and that they are there to protect us. He said he thinks police get the proper training, but this doesn't show it because to act like this is worse than a gang.
The San Jose Police Department had no comment Monday night, but confirmed the incident is being reviewed by internal affairs. Police sources told KPIX 5 that the suspect was drunk and may have struck an officer prior to the video being recorded.
According to a police statement released by the department late Monday night, the suspect has been identified as 22-year-old Juan Moreno-Lopez of San Jose. The incident began when the suspect tossed something into bushes when two officers approached him, police said. The suspect then turned toward the officers "in a combative manner" and attempted to attack an officer with a bottle.
Additional officers were called in, police said. Once he was subdued, the suspect continued to resist once he was subdued by officers, according to police. Paramedics were called and he was taken to a local hospital and booked into Santa Clara Jail after being released.
Moreno-Lopez is accused of assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, being under the influence of a stimulant, possession of methamphetamine and the destruction of evidence.
