CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A video captures several Corpus Christi Police Department officers holding down and striking a man.
Now his family is upset, questioning if "excessive force" was used.
This video circulating on social media shows several Corpus Christi Police officers trying to restrain 22-year-old Ruben Longoria.
"Use of force situations are never pretty," CCPD Senior Officer Travis Pace said. "They're always some type of violent struggle.”
Pace says late Saturday evening CCPD was responding to a tip that a wanted man identified as Longoria was at a bar near South Padre Island Drive.
Longoria had a warrant for evading police back in November.
When police confronted Longoria, they say he denied his identity until someone at the bar identified him.
That's when police say the struggle began.
“They got a hold of him to try to place him under arrest," Pace said. "(He) started fighting, started pulling away, kicked one of the officers. (The) officers took him down to the ground, he still would not comply would not put his arms behind his back. They gave compliant strikes to the middle of his back and the back of his leg.”
In a phone conversation, Longoria’s mother says her son is still in jail. And she believes officers used excessive force for just one man who was unarmed.
But according to CCPD, officers were not only following protocol but attempting to contain a situation that could have been much worse.
“While they were trying to get this individual into custody they were being hit by bottles by people inside the bar,” said Pace.
Pace says Longoria continued kicking and refused to get inside the police car even after he was handcuffed.
Now he faces three additional charges, one being resisting arrest.
“This could have all been prevented if the individual would have owned up to his warrant and complied and gone to jail and he would just had to deal with that warrant,” said Pace.
Longoria's mother says the family is upset, and says they are now seeking legal counsel.
Police say every incident where officers use force is marked and reviewed by a supervisor.