The suspect in a car theft was already face down on the ground and motionless. A Miami police officer had him handcuffed.

Then, as seen in a video recorded by a witness on Thursday morning, another officer came running toward the suspect, David Vladim Suazo, kicking him in the head before joining the other officer in pinning him to the ground. It seemed to many on Facebook to be an entirely unnecessary use of force, as the man showed no resistance to the arrest.

The officer’s superiors agreed. The Miami police chief, Jorge R. Colina, said the video depicted “a clear violation of policy” and suspended the officer, Mario Figueroa, with pay pending the results of an internal investigation.

Miami’s mayor, Francis Suarez, said in an interview on Friday that the suspension was the maximum punishment the department could immediately hand out under city policy — and that he wishes it could have been a harsher punishment.