Police Reviewing Cell Phone Footage Of East Austin Police Beating

EAST AUSTIN, TX -- An ongoing internal police review centers on cell phone footage showing a police officer punching a man repeatedly in the head after throwing him to the ground during an attempted arrest.

According to court documents cited by KXAN-TV, the officer said he pulled into the 900 block of Reinli Street when he was saw a Volvo pull up. The car's occupants, a man and a woman, looked at the officer's vehicle "with wide eyes," the officer wrote in his report.

That wide-eyed expression was what led to the officer's suspicions. He later wrote that their facial expression may have been prompted by concern of heavy police presence in the area.

The officer decided to follow the couple, finally pulling them over at the 5300 block of Cameron Road. The officer said he noticed a red bandanna in the man's front pocket and noticed he sported "gang-related tattoos."

After questioning Sisto Quiroz, 31, the officer did a background check while the suspect was inside an Auto Zone store. The background check revealed the suspect had an outstanding warrant on a forgery charge.

As Quiroz exited the Auto Zone store, the officer told him of the arrest warrant. The officer grabbed Quiroz's arm to effect an arrest, claiming the suspect tried to "...forcefully pull his arm" away from him.

That's when things escalated. The officer is seen in the video on top of the suspect (who appears not to be resisting), while punching him numerous times in the head.

A passerby took cell phone footage of the incident and posted it on YouTube. A spokesman for the Austin Police Department has told media outlets the video is currently being review by the chain of command.

The incident of possible police overreach comes less than one month after another video was taken by witnesses of police macing SXSW attendees, including one person pepper sprayed while already handcuffed and in the back of a police transport vehicle.