Officers said they were attempting to detain the man because he was intoxicated, and moments earlier, he appeared to reach for an officer's gun. That moment was caught on home video by a nearby storeowner.
"The suspect tried to grab one of our officer's gun from the holster. Giving that, we have to make an arrest, and we're going to use any force necessary to make that arrest," said Det. Joe Silva of the Stockton Police Department.
But some witnesses disagree with the officers' actions.
"He was beating him like Rodney King. They didn't have to do him like that. They could have verbally talked to him," said witness Trayvon Edwards.
The suspect, who is a parolee, is being held on charges of fighting with police and trying to grab an officer's weapon.
