VIDEO: Was This Officer In Nearby Vallejo Using Excessive Force During An Arrest?

SOLANO COUNTY, CA -- Vallejo police are investigating allegations of excessive use of force by a police officer during an arrest of a man who allegedly was acting erratically near a gas station Friday afternoon.

Police responded at 3:13 p.m. to a call from a Valero gas station employee about a man acting erratically at the station at 1610 Fairgrounds Drive in the Country Club Crest area, Lt. Jeff Bassett said.

The employee said the man, later identified as Dejuan Hall, 23, of Vacaville, was confrontational and frightening employees, Bassett said.

Officers found the man outside the gas station when they arrived.

Hall fled and Officer Spencer Muniz-Bottomley chased him for several minutes before Hall stopped in the center island of Fairgrounds Drive where a struggle followed, according to police.

Hall was arrested and booked into Solano County Jail on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance, resisting arrest, resisting or threatening an officer with force and a probation violation,
Bassett said.

A video of the incident taken by a bystander and posted on social media shows Muniz-Bottomley striking Hall with a flashlight as Hall lay on the ground and again when another officer arrives.

Police Chief Andrew Bidou said the Vallejo Police Department is aware of the attention the incident has received and he has ordered a full and complete investigation.

"I have complete confidence in our Internal Affairs Division and our use of force experts who will conduct this investigation. Upon completion, I will thoroughly review the entire investigation and personally
make a final determination," Bidou said.

In an email, Lt. Jeff Bassett said police have seen portions of the video and are reviewing the incident as they do all use of force incidents.

"It's important that no one make any assumptions without having all the available facts. Just like anyone else officers are innocent until proven guilty," Bassett wrote.

"Violence is always ugly but police officers are exposed to violent situations everyday and they are required to overcome that violence not just match it," he wrote.

"We are investigating this matter and our organization will take the appropriate action if any policy or law has been broken," Bassett wrote.

By Bay City News/Image via Shutterstock/Video courtesy Caleb