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Man says Worcester correctional officers used unnecessary force to subdue him

WORCESTER, Mass. – A Worcester County man is facing assault and battery charges after allegedly resisting arrest and biting a correctional officer, but he says video from inside the jail shows that he’s actually the victim.

Christian Colon was at the Worcester County House of Correction last year on June 28 after being arrested for DUI when he says the officers used unnecessary force to subdue him.

The video, shows Colon standing in a hallway facing three correctional officers apparently having a conversation. At one point, the officers turn Colon to face the wall, and all four people fall to the ground.

The video appears to show one officer punching Colon while the other two grapple with him. After about 40 seconds the officers lift Colon off the ground in handcuffs and take him out of sight.

“In my opinion- was it excessive? It was more than excessive. I think elbows and knees are way too excessive,” Colon said.

But when Boston 25 News Reporter Stephanie Coueignoux asked Jail Superintendent David Tuttle about the video, and he said it’s what cannot be seen that tells the true story.

“He's biting him underneath the pile. That's why it goes on for a couple minutes and the officers have to use the force they do is because he started biting one of them,” Tuttle said.

Tuttle said Colon also swore at the officers and tried to spit on them.

"We are comfortable with this use of force that they used appropriate force to subdue an inmate that was biting them and resisting them," the superintendent told 
Boston 25 News.

Colon said he blacked out from the tussle, a claim Tuttle told us is untrue.

Colon is set to appear in court Thursday to request a change of venue for the case.

When asked what he'd like to see happen to the officers, Colon said he doesn't want them fired, but he would like to see them penalized.

Superintendent Tuttle said charges wouldn’t have been pressed against Colon if the officers acted inappropriately.

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