Donald Costilow Jr. was done with his cigarette. So, he says, he flicked the lit butt toward a trash can — and missed.

The discarded cigarette also appeared to sail in the direction of a passing Huntington Beach police cruiser – igniting a violent altercation between officers and Costilow around 1 a.m. July 8 on Main Street. Costilow, 22, of Garden Grove, has filed a complaint with the department alleging officers jumped him without provocation or warning.

Lt. Mitch O’Brien said officers initially tried to talk with Costilow about the cigarette, but he turned away.

In any case, he was arrested on suspicion of throwing a lit cigarette or, in legal terms, an “incinerating device” and resisting arrest.

A cell phone video taken by Costilow’s girlfriend, Odyxxy Maciel, 22, does not show whether police tried talking to Costilow or attacked him by surprise. It’s difficult to see exactly what is happening, but after viewing the video several times it becomes clear that one officer is punching an obviously restrained Costilow at least three times (right at the beginning of the video), while Maciel screams for an explanation. (Warning: the video is unedited and contains offensive language.)

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To hear Costilow tell the story, he discarded a cigarette and all hell broke loose.

“They (police) didn’t come and talk to me. They just came up from behind me and grabbed my arms. Eventually, one got me in a headlock and took me down. He kept saying, ‘You’re going to sleep.’ I was totally restrained while this guy was punching me in the face,” Costilow said. “The guy totally lost control.”

He had spent much of the evening drinking at a Huntington Beach bar and his girlfriend had come from Garden Grove to hang out for a bit and drive him home.

Maciel said Costilow ditched his cigarette because she wouldn’t kiss him while he smoked. She said the couple was holding hands when police just came out of nowhere.

“I was really surprised, I didn’t understand what was happening. Cops are supposed to protect you,” Maciel said. “If they thought he was littering, they could have written him a ticket.”

Maciel was cited for interfering with an arrest.

“I was freaking out, saying, ‘What are you guys doing?,” she said.

O’Brien said an internal investigation is underway, so he was limited in what he could reveal.

“A marked police unit is going by, this young man flicks a cigarette disrespectfully,” O’Brien said. “Two officers go to talk with him and he just walks away, most people contacted by police would talk to them. He was arrested because that incinerating device hit the ground.”

We’ll keep an eye on this case and let you know what happens.