A Baltimore man is suing a city police officer, accusing the officer of punching him repeatedly during a June arrest. (Courtesy of Bates & Garcia, P.C.)

A Baltimore man is suing a city police officer, accusing the officer of punching him repeatedly during a June arrest. (Courtesy of Bates & Garcia, P.C.)

Baltimore Police said Tuesday that they suspended an officer caught on camera beating a man at a North Avenue bus stop and prosecutors said they have a criminal investigation into the incident under way.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said at a news conference that the first time he saw the video was Monday, when it was obtained by The Baltimore Sun and other outlets.

“Like the public I’m shocked and outraged nothing that I saw on the video is defensible,” Batts said, adding that anyone who was involved will be held accountable.

The video, captured by the city’s surveillance network, was turned over to The Sun Monday after the victim in the attack, Kollin Truss, filed a lawsuit against the officer, Vincent E. Cosom.

Deputy State’s Attorney Elizabeth Embry confirmed the existence of the probe but declined to comment further, following the office’s policy on active investigations. Cosom will be paid while he is on administrative leave.

Senior department officials spoke at the news conference as political and community leaders questioned in interviews why the officer had been allowed to remain on duty after authorities became aware of the incident.

Batts said the system had broken down in this case. The camera operator who was tracking the incident properly notified his superiors, Batts said. And the prosecutor handling the case referred the matter to the police integrity investigators, according to state’s attorney’s office spokesman Tony Savage.

The incident unfolded in the early hours of June 15. Cosom was with his girlfriend Stephanie Coleman, who can be seen on the video trying to defuse the situation, which got heated after Cosom ordered Truss to leave the area around a North Avenue liquor store.

In an interview Tuesday, Coleman said she quickly got worried that things would get out of control.

“I knew once he was harassing us, it was going to end in a big incident,” Coleman said. “I was scared of [Cosom].”

Cosom alleged in charging papers that Truss had assaulted Coleman. But she categorically denied that Truss had assaulted her.

“He lied,” Coleman said of Cosom.

The officer then wrote that Truss adopted a fighting stance and made threats when he tried to arrest Truss, but the video shows Cosom leap round a group of bystanders to launch into an attack on Truss.

Cosom landed a series of blows on Truss, including a number delivered while another unidentified officer restrained Truss against the side of a bus stop.

Truss was charged with assault and other offenses in connection with the incident but the case was later dropped when a prosecutor reviewed the tape and concluded that it contradicted Cosom’s description in charging documents.

Police said Monday that internal affairs is also investigating the incident. Coleman said she has yet to give a statement to investigators.

The Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, a pastor and police brutality activist, said he was shocked when he saw the video on the news Monday — and at first he thought the incident must have happened in another city. He was also surprised that Cosom was still on active duty as of Monday.

“I don’t know how the Baltimore Police Department could fathom that this is excusable,” said Bryant, who led the Empowerment Temple in Northwest Baltimore.

Bryant held a recent forum at the church to discuss race consider the relationship between black people and police. Even with the constant allegations of police brutality in Baltimore, the beating on the tape surprised Bryant.

“It’s one thing to hear about it,” Bryant said. “It’s another thing to see it.”

City Councilman Carl Stokes, who represents the area where the altercation occurred, said interactions like the one shown in the video occur regularly.

“It’s pretty terrible,” Stokes said. “People act like it doesn’t happen daily and quite often. It does happen daily and quite often.”

Stokes said the punches “looked unprovoked” and did not believe the officer was threatened. He joined Bryant in questioning why the officer was still on the job.

Russell A. Neverdon, a defense attorney who is running for State’s Attorney as a write-in candidate, said Cosom should face felony assault charges and that the other officers involved might also be criminally culpable.

“Under my administration we would have a zero tolerance policy with officer misconduct,” he said.

Neverdon shares offices with Truss’ attorneys and had seen the video before it was made public Monday. The footage clearly contradicts Cosom’s account, he said.