CAMDEN -- The photo of Kiedron Alexander's back shows his skin bubbling and peeling, raw, red flesh poking through.

The image was taken by his lawyer after Alexander was treated at Kennedy Hospital in Stratford on the night he claims, according to court documents, that his girlfriend threw boiling water on him. That night, in January 2016, he said, his girlfriend was the first to reach the phone and she called 911.

Police would later arrest Alexander, who was 32 at the time, for assault, despite the fact that he claims he never laid a hand on her. Three months later, the case was dismissed. Toni Telles, Alexander's attorney, said a judge did not find his girlfriend's testimony to be credible.

Now, nearly two years after the domestic violence incident in their Pine Hill apartment - a town that had the 12th highest domestic violence rate in New Jersey in 2015, police figures show - Alexander is suing the agencies that arrested him, claiming he was targeted because he's a man.

"People get in to arguments all the time, but the idea that the Camden County prosecutors or Pine Hill has a policy that forces an officer to choose who to arrest and arresting someone because of their gender should not be tolerated," Telles said. "They are not permitted by law to discriminate against certain protected categories and this includes sex and gender."

Pine Hill borough counsel David Patterson said Wednesday the borough does not comment on pending litigation.

Veteran trial attorney and Rutgers-Camden University law professor Victoria Chase specializes in local domestic violence cases. She has a different view of how police handle domestic violence complaints.

"I can say that I do not share the perception the police are instructed in such a manner that the result is that men are unfairly arrested," Chase said. "Rather, as the statute requires, police are instructed to ascertain whether there is a visible sign of injury. Where one party has such a visible sign of injury, the person apparently causing the injury must be arrested. My perception is that police are in fact applying the visible sign of injury requirement without reference to gender."

According to a study on violence between partners conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in 2014, 22 percent of women and 14 percent of men experienced severe physical violence from a partner in their lifetime. That violence could include things such as being hit with something hard, being kicked or beaten, or being burned on purpose, the study said.

After the alleged assault, police complaints were filed against both Alexander and his girlfriend. The complaint against Alexander said he allegedly "attempted to cause serious bodily injury" by "strangling his girlfriend around the neck with both hands" and by "smacking her in the face with her Uggs boot several times."

The complaint against his girlfriend said she "attempted to cause bodily injury" by "throwing boiling water on him during the course of a domestic dispute" causing "severe burning to his left ear, left shoulder and left side of his face." Both complaints listed simple assault as a charge.

Alexander was arrested and held in Camden County jail for the better part of two days. The prosecutor's office referred the case back to municipal court and the charges were dismissed, according to court records.

There is no record of the girlfriend's arrest or prosecution, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. Court documents also show Alexander won a restraining order against her.

Alexander and his attorney are suing Pine Hill, its police department, the county prosecutor's office and the arresting officer. The suit was filed in Superior Court in January and moved to federal court in Camden this month.

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook.