Three Dover, New Jersey, police officers are under fire after a video showed them repeatedly punching a teenager in the face during an arrest.
Early Sunday morning, police attempted to restrain Cyprian Luke, 19, outside a convenience store. Video recorded by someone with Luke at the time shows the police pinning him down and punching him, with one officer putting his hand around Luke's throat.
The officers are seen on camera demanding Luke, who was on his back, roll onto his stomach, while one officer had his knee on Luke's stomach.
The video, which shows Luke's face bloodied and injured, circulated on social media as people decried the interaction as an example of police brutality.
The Morris County Prosecutor's office is investigating the incident but would not provide information on what spurred the arrest.
On Sunday evening around 50 people protested outside the Dover police department, demanding justice for Luke and calling the officer's actions into question.
"It's just devastating because my son could have died," Luke's mother, Mary Yurley, told NBC New York, "He was blue in one video where he is being choked and maced for no reason."
Police say Luke was resisting arrest, which Yurley denies. "He was not able to comply with what the officer was asking him to do," she said.
Luke was facing charges of assault, violating court orders, and criminal mischief before his arrest Sunday, according to the Bergen Record. Morris County prosecutors would not confirm the charges to NBC News. Luke is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Dover police said the three officers involved in the incident have been put on administrative leave. A fourth officer seen in the video from Morris County Park Police is not on leave.
