BIRMINGHAM -- A former Town Creek police officer pleaded guilty today to a civil rights violation during the course of an arrest in a case that involved excessive force, the U.S. Department of Justice said today.

Brandon Shane Mundy pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge David Proctor in Birmingham to the civil rights violation stemming from an incident on Nov. 22, 2009, the DOJ said in a news release.

The incident began, prosecutors said, when Mundy was involved in a car pursuit and fired shots at the other driver's car before ramming it and forcing into to wreck in a ditch.

The man was placed under arrest by another officer without resistance, the DOJ said, Mundy ran up and "unjustifiably and repeatedly beat the man in the head with an object that was either a baton or a flashlight causing the man to suffer physical injury."

After he lost control of the object he was using, the DOJ said, Mundy continued to hit the man with his fist.

"Police officers who abuse their power in order to assault citizens undermine the system of constitutional government they are sworn to uphold," said Joyce White Vance, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. "As the plea in this case shows, my office will work closely with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to aggressively enforce the laws that prohibit police misconduct."

Mundy faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.