An 18-year old city man charged last Monday with attacking police who arrived at his home to help his sick grandmother says he is the real victim, accusing cops of choking him, hitting his head against a wall and beating him with a nightstick because he wouldn't immediately obey their orders.

The June 8 incident, caught on a cellphone video obtained by The Jersey Journal, is just the latest examples of police harassment aimed at Michael Cortez Jr., according to Cortez and his loved ones.

"It's a personal vendetta," said his 19-year-old cousin, who asked not to be identified.

Cortez's father, Michael Cortez Sr., 45, said police officers who patrol the area have for years told his son they "couldn't wait" until he turned 18 so they could throw him behind bars. Cortez Sr. said a cop also struck him with a nightstick as they arrested his son, leaving a bloody cut on his back.

Cortez's father has filed a complaint against three police officers and is speaking to a lawyer about a possible lawsuit.

"Anger, anger," Cortez Sr. said when asked how he feels.

City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said the city is investigating the father's complaint, an investigation she called "standard procedure." The local police union, meanwhile, is defending the arresting officers' actions, saying they showed the "utmost professionalism" during the arrest.

Police say they arrived with EMS workers (at the workers' request) at the Cortez's Van Wagenen Avenue basement apartment on Monday just before 7:30 p.m. Cops allege Cortez was combative from the start. Cortez shouted "I didn't call no (expletive) police" and "(expletive) the police," then "took a fighting stance" that caused EMS workers to flee into another room with his grandmother, officers allege in a police report.

Cortez, his father and cousin say he was indeed "worked up" because they thought his grandmother was seriously ill (she is feeling better, they say). They allege the officers, not Cortez, were immediately combative, and "put (up) a fighting stance," Cortez's father said.

Cortez and his family say he was in handcuffs within 90 seconds of officers arriving at their apartment. The 19-year-old said that as they brought him upstairs, one officer purposely banged his head against a wall, then lifted him off the ground by his neck once he was outside, choking him.

The video, taken by a neighbor, shows chaos outside the apartment as a crowd witnessing the arrest shout at the officers to leave Cortez alone. Cortez is mostly blocked, and can only be seen for a fleeting moment. There's no footage of him being choked.

Bystanders can be heard shouting, "They're tasing him!" and "You're choking him, man!" Jersey City cops do not carry tasers.

A woman can also be heard screaming. Cortez and his family say that is his pregnant girlfriend, who they allege officers pushed as she tried to get to Cortez. The officers allege Cortez resisted arrest, striking officers with his elbows, spit on them and kicked them, causing injuries to multiple officers.

In response, Cortez displayed bruises and cuts on his body he says came from the officers. He was treated at Jersey City Medical Center-Barnabas Health after officers brought him to the west district police station, he said.

"How is he going to attack police officers when he's in handcuffs 95 percent of the time?" his cousin said.

Cortez's family said the police have it in for him because of his run-ins with the law when he was a minor, including at least one robbery charge. He said those incidents were "in the past" and do not reflect who he is today.

Cortez was charged with obstructing a governmental function, aggravated assault on an officer, resisting arrest, making terroristic threats, throwing bodily fluids at an officer and disorderly conduct. He was released from jail the day after his arrest on $10,000 bail.

Carmine Disbrow, president of the local police union, said in a statement that the arresting officers "take great pride in their responsibility."

"In their response to this call, as they have countless times before, both officers showed compassion for a Jersey City family in need, and handled themselves with the utmost professionalism," Disbrow said.