Stanislaus County deputy recorded hitting suspect. Now he's under investigation.

A Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputy has been placed on leave and is under criminal investigation for an incident in which he was captured on video repeatedly striking a man he and other law enforcement were trying to detain.

The incident occurred on the evening of Nov. 10 when deputies were dispatched to a report of a man who appeared to be intoxicated, acting bizarrely and running into traffic at Crows Landing and Hatch roads, said Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson.

Modesto police located the man first, and were joined by sheriff’s deputies, including a K9 deputy. There were three deputies, three officers and a sergeant from each agency at the scene.

The man was ultimately detained at Caruso Center at the northwest corner of the intersection, where a video taken by a witness shows part of the arrest.

During the minute-long recording, anywhere from three to five law enforcement officers – a mixture of Modesto officers and sheriff’s deputies – can be seen trying to get the man’s arms behind his back. But one deputy is seen punching the man in the back and head at least eight times during the struggle.

"I am disappointed and concerned but I want the public to know that we are going to thoroughly investigate the incident to find out what happened and we will take the appropriate actions necessary once we have all the facts," said Christianson, who has seen the video that was posted on YouTube two days after the incident. "We are looking at all circumstances leading up to the contact with the individual who was arrested and what happened or what you see happening in that video."

Deputy Taylor Knight, a 25-year-old, three-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, was put on paid administrative leave following the incident.

The sheriff’s department, in partnership with Modesto Police, are conducting a criminal investigation into whether Knight’s actions rise to the level of assault under the color of authority.

An internal affairs investigation also is underway to determine if any sheriff’s department policy was violated.

Attempts by The Bee to contact Knight on Thursday were not successful.

The 33-year-old man the deputy hit was taken to a hospital to be medically cleared before being booked on suspicion of resisting arrest with force or violence. Christianson said he suffered "a superficial forehead abrasion."

Christianson said he ordered the man released from custody within 48 hours of his arrest. "The charges were not reflective of what I saw in the video and after reading the crime reports ... in my opinion this was at best a misdemeanor delaying and obstructing a police officer."

Christianson said detectives will interview law enforcement and civilian witnesses who were present during the incident and expects both the criminal and internal affairs investigations to be complete within the next six weeks.

The criminal investigation will be forwarded to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether charges should be filed against Knight.

Christianson said the man is transient and has had many contacts with law enforcement.

"This gentleman does have a long history with us; he has contact with law enforcement dating back several years,” Christianson said. “He is an addict and most likely has a history of mental illness, which explains his bizarre behavior and clearly explains him running in traffic in the dark and why we were called."

The sheriff's department sergeant at the scene reported the incident to the watch commander, who alerted Christianson shortly after. A few days later he saw the video on YouTube.

The video has no audio but Christianson said other deputies and officers confronted Knight about his actions during the incident. He said they are expected to step in if they witness a potential violation.

Due to the ongoing investigation, Christianson said he would not comment about what specifically was said.

This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 6:46 PM with the headline "Stanislaus County deputy recorded hitting suspect. Now he's under investigation.."