Lindenhurst native's N.J. arrest probed

New Jersey police are reportedly investigating the arrest of a Lindenhurst man who appears to be punched by police in a video shot during a street party near Rutgers University.

Elliott Marx, 20, a Rutgers student and Lindenhurst High School graduate, was arrested Saturday and charged with aggravated assault, possession of false documents and resisting arrest, said his lawyer, John Koufos of Long Branch, N.J.

New Brunswick authorities launched an investigation after a video was posted on YouTube that shows an officer punching a man on the ground as another officer shouts: "Stop resisting! Give me your hand," The Home News Tribune of East Brunswick reported.

Marx had jumped on an officer's back, police spokesman Lt. J.T. Miller told the newspaper.

A message left for the New Brunswick police department was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Marx was fighting with another student when police arrived, and he may have not realized that police officers were trying to break up the fight, Koufos said.

Koufos said Marx was lying on the ground and posed no threat to the several police officers arresting him.

"Our account shows that Mr. Marx was surrounded by five officers face down in a prone position, and it appears that while he was in that position that one of the officers repeatedly punched him about the face while either that officer or another arbitrarily yelled, 'Stop resisting,' " Koufos said. "I urge the public not to prejudge the police or to prejudge Mr. Marx."

He has been released on $10,000 bail, and no court date had been set, Koufos said.

Internal Affairs investigators are interviewing witnesses and examining footage from a police car video camera to determine if the use of force was justified, the New Jersey newspaper said.

Koufos said Marx has not filed a complaint against police. "We have 90 days from date of the incident to do so, and we are waiting to see how it plays out," he said.

Marx hasn't declared a major, Koufos said, but was taking classes in psychology and sociology.

Reached at home in Lindenhurst, Marx's mother declined to comment. A spokesman for Rutgers said the school had no comment.

With The Associated Press