Southern California

Officers Fistfight With Shirtless Man in Caught-on-Camera Brawl

Cellphone video captured officers fistfighting with a shirtless man outside a fried chicken restaurant

A call to police about an aggressive panhandler at a Southern California fried chicken restaurant turned into a parking lot brawl that sent two officers to the hospital and one man to jail.

A bystander in a shopping center near Crenshaw Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue in Hawthorne on Monday reported a man asking people for money and threatening them if they refused.

When police showed up to the Louisiana Fried Chicken, the man was "defiant and uncooperative," Hawthorne police said Thursday.

The man then pushed an officer's hand away when two tried to detain him, and then punched the officer in the face, police said.

The officers used a Taser on the man, but his clothing was too thick for it to bring him to the ground, police said.

Video captured by a witness showed a shirtless man between two officers in a parking lot, the man and officers going back and forth throwing punches.

One officer can be seen kicking the man as the other cop grabs him.

Video showed the officers using a Taser on the now-shirtless man and punching him as he lay down on the ground.

The officers injured in the fight were treated at the hospital and released. The man identified as Thomas Christopher Brown, 29, is facing felony charges including resisting and assaulting a police officer.

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