Security tape allegedly shows a group of police officers beating two Chicago brothers Wednesday after apparently mistaking them for robbers while one was closing the store at which he worked.



Michael Ayala, 23, said officers assaulted him during an incident Wednesday after he was closing up shop Wednesday at 7911 Food and Liquor Store.

"He punched me in the ribs," Michael Ayala, who showed bruises on his upper arms from officers pinning him down, said of one aggressive officer.

He said at one point he blacked out. Adrian Ayala, his 18-year-old brother who was waiting for his brother outside the store, also was punched and kicked, he said.

Michael Ayala said he was closing up the store early, while his brother waited for him on his bike. Michael Ayala is an employee at the store in the 4800 block of South Archer, and his brother sometimes helps stock shelves.



When he completed his task, he turned to see officers handcuffing his younger brother on the hood of a car. Michael Ayala said he went outside to tell police he worked there and that Adrian Ayala was there helping him. He even offered to turn the store security on and off to prove it.



Police let Adrian Ayala go, he said, but when a frustrated Michael Ayala yelled at officers that he had video tape of the incident, an officer he described as a sergeant "flipped" and put his head into a side window.



A store surveillance video posted on YouTube shows several officers rushing the brothers back into the store.



An investigation has been launched by the Independent Police Review Authority, and the Chicago Police Department said in a statement the department is fully cooperating.



"The alleged conduct does not represent the high standards of professionalism and excellence maintained as core values of the Department and which officers demonstrate on a daily basis serving and protecting the community," News Affairs said in a statement.