ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Security cameras captured a disturbing video of a group of Atlantic City police officers assaulting a man, beating him mercilessly with blunt weapons, and finally siccing an attack dog on his neck and head as he lay helplessly face-down in the street. The shocking abuse seems to be done with the approval of the police chief, who watched the video and saw no reason to discipline his officers.

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After a verbal encounter with police, David Castellani crossed the street and walked away from the officers. He was obviously upset at the interaction. Several times as he walked away, he turned around as if to react to an ongoing conversation being shouted between the officers and himself. He can be seen responding to the officers, raising his hands excitedly. He paused briefly to shout down the street but continuing to walk the other direction, widening the distance between himself and the officers.

After a heated verbal exchange that lasted roughly a minute, the surveillance video shows four officers running into the frame and assaulting Castellani. His hands were clearly visible and held down at his sides. There was no threat posed at all. “They bum-rushed the kid,” his father later described.

The officers quickly spun him around and forced him to the ground. The encounter was brutal from the start. As Castellani defended himself from the gang attack, one officer quickly pulled out an extendable baton and began beating him in the back. Castellani, now face down on the street, was attempting to cover his head while receiving blows from all sides. The assailants pummeled Castellani with their fists, kicked him, and struck him with their knees. One officer knelt on his head.

Castellani curled into the fetal position, desperately trying to shield himself from attacks, as a fifth officer entered the melee. Officers yanked his legs to the extended position just so one of them could beat on the backs of his calves with his club.

A marked police SUV flew into the scene, pulling halfway onto the sidewalk. Castellani remained face down on the ground, one hand is in a cuff, the other visibly extended out in submission, fingers spread, posing no threat. A sixth officer — a K9 unit — jumped out of his SUV with an attack dog and immediately sicced the dog on the helpless man. The beast clamped down on Castellani head and neck, using such force that it actually dragged him several feet across the pavement — by his neck. The German Shepherd thrashed its head while clamped down on its prey, to the delight of its handler, whom joined into the fray by punching Castellani in the head.