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A disturbing video of an arrest in Brooklyn Thursday night has made its rounds on the web. The video shows a NYPD police officer hitting a man with a baton, causing a huge head wound, over claims the suspect skipped the subway fare.

According to the NY Daily News, the incident happened at the Myrtle Avenue-Broadway JMZ station around 8 p.m. The man, 20-year-old Donovan Lawson, allegedly was targeted by police after he didn’t pay his fare to the station.

In the video, Lawson is struck several times with a baton. After getting hit in the face, Lawson tries to get away from the police officer. His girlfriend is seen screaming and pleading with the officer to let him go, as blood is sprayed all over the station.

Marielle Anas, who recorded the incident, says the officer was too rough on Lawson for an alleged petty crime:

“It was one of the most awful things I’ve ever seen,” Anas, 28, said. “I have blood all over my jeans. The brutality of the nightstick – it was crazy. It looked like his head exploded. I couldn’t believe I was seeing it happen.”

Anas was on her way home from work when she stumbled upon the scene in the mezzanine area of the Bushwick station. The man was sitting on a wooden bench as the officer towered over the alleged fare beater and threw at least three punches at the baby-faced man’s head.

The kid wasn’t doing anything – that’s why I started recording,” Anas said. “If he can’t subdue this kid – he wasn’t even resisting that much!”

As Anas began filming, other bystanders, including the man’s girlfriend, began to yell at the officer to stop the beatdown. Anas went to call 911 just as the officer pulled out his truncheon and cracked the man on the head, sending him reeling across the room in a daze as blood poured from his skull.

Reports also included that the officer violated NYPD policies by striking the man in the head with the baton:

Another clip, first obtained by PIX 11, captures the officer brutally arresting the man, identified as 20-year-old Donovan Lawson, and using the nightstick across his head, reportedly in violation of New York Police Department policy. The NYPD Internal Affairs Unit is investigating the incident.

Lawson had a clean record before the incident. He was arrested Thursday night for fare beating, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and disrupting government administration.

SOURCE: Gothamist | VIDEO CREDIT: YouTube