An African American man is suing a Georgia police department for using "unnecessary and excessive" force while wrongly detaining him.
Antonio Smith was waiting for his sister to wire him money to a Western Union on February 8 when he was approached by police officers who mistook him for a suspect in a panhandling investigation.
Bodycam footage of the incident shows an officer asking Smith what he was doing in the area, and for ID.
"I wasn't doing anything," Smith is heard saying in the video.
A sergeant approaches and immediately restrains Smith's arms in a 'bear hug' where he asks him to put his hands behind his back.
After asking three times, the sergeant picks Smith up and body slams him to the ground before putting on handcuffs.
Smith can be heard crying in agony until the officers realise he is injured. He is then uncuffed and allowed to roll over.
On Tuesday Smith filed a lawsuit against the Valdosta Police Department with his attorney calling the incident a civil rights violation.
"From the moment Mr Smith was slammed to the ground until he walked away, he cried and screamed in agonising pain," reads the lawsuit, obtained by the Valdosta Daily Times.
They said Smith's arm was broken during the incident and he sustained physical, mental and emotional injuries.
The lawsuit is seeking compensation and punitive damages of USD$700,000, the Valdosta Daily Times reported.
The Valdosta Police Department said in a statement to their Facebook page their officers had been dispatched to the incident "in reference to a report of a male outside the business harassing customers, screaming loudly, and asking customers for money".
"The City of Valdosta and the Valdosta Police Department takes any report of any injury to a citizen seriously. Although there was no complaint filed with VPD, once the shift supervisor was notified it prompted the review process of the incident."
They said they were "fully committed" to being transparent and released body camera footage to their website.
