Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland confirmed a uniformed policewoman who punched a handcuffed robbery suspect in the face on Thursday has been relieved of duty during an internal affairs investigation.

The incident was filmed by a news crew, and the video was brought to McClelland's office for review.

"Prior to me personally viewing the video, supervisors down the chain of command acted appropriately by initiating an internal affairs investigation and relieving this officer of duty pending the outcome of the investigation,“ read a statement issued by McClelland.

Police were called to the scene of an attempted robbery by three armed men at a convenience store at 8 a.m. Thursday in the 1400 block of Cavalcade north of downtown. One of the suspects hopped onto a passing freight train.

From a helicopter, a KTRK-TV Channel 13 camera filmed two officers frisking a handcuffed suspect they detained next to the railroad tracks. A third officer could be seen calmly walking up to the group and landing a quick right jab to the suspect's face.

HPD identified the officer as Angela Horton, 36, who is assigned to the Central Patrol Division. Horton was sworn in as an HPD officer in January 2007.

Janice Evans, a spokeswoman for Mayor Annise Parker, said the mayor was out of town on vacation and deferred comments to HPD.

The incident is the latest in a string of alleged brutality and serious criminal behavior by HPD officers that have surfaced during McClelland's tenure. In March 2010, a surveillance camera outside a storage center filmed a group of HPD officers kicking and punching a teenaged burglary suspect who had surrendered. McClelland fired eight officers.

"Certainly the video was shot from a long distance away, and there are things that could have happened. The guy could have spit on the officer or made an overt movement that the officer saw,“ said Gary Blankinship, president of the Houston Police Officer's Union.

james.pinkerton@chron.com