A black teenager was pushed to the ground and arrested by nine police officers after allegedly jaywalking in California.

A video of the arrest filmed by a witness shows the 16-year-old forced to the footpath and handcuffed while surrounded by police officers.

Before the arrest the teenager is seen sitting on the wall of a flowerbed as an officer pushes him with a baton.

The teenager tries to hold the baton at arms-length while passers-by are heard yelling "that's a kid… Get off him".

The police officer orders the youth to "stop resisting" before appearing to use the baton to strike the teenager in the face.

A female bystander is heard screaming "Are you serious? He didn't do nothing wrong".

Edgar Avendaño posted the video to the Facebook and said the officer had allegedly stopped the teenager for jaywalking and ordered him to sit, but the teen kept walking to his bus.

“The cop kept grabbing his arm and the kid took off the cop’s hand off his arm so the cop took out his baton and that’s when I started recording because everything happened too quick," Mr Avendaño said.

"He didn’t have to hit the kid with the baton and no need to call about 20 cops."

Stockton’s police department spokesman Joseph Silva told the Guardian the teen had “cussed” when ordered onto the sidewalk "for safety reasons" by the first officer.

"These things wouldn’t happen if people followed officers' lawful instructions," Mr Silva said.

The teenager was held in custody and released to his mother.