SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Santa Cruz Police said one of its officers was assaulted by a man he was trying to arrest.
Central Coast News obtained exclusive video showing the cop fight that happened Thursday morning in the parking lot of Ristorante Avanti when it was closed.
"It was definitely a full brawl. It was a fight. The officer was fighting. There was kicking," said Tony Williams who caught it all on video.
The video shows punching, kicking and the suspect, Lawrence Segarini, trying to take the officer's gun.
Prior to the brawl, police said the officer, whose name they're not releasing as of Thursday night, was trying to arrest Segarini after he reportedly assaulted another man and yelling at cars passing by.
Williams said it got so bad that at one point he feared Segarini was going to kill the officer with his own gun.
"He was looking for the kill," he said. "Once I saw him have his hand on his gun, I actually got really worried and I wanted to run across the street and help him out."
Before he could jump in, the officer was able to subdue Segarini, who had blood all over his face, with pepper spray.
Then finally, some minutes later, officers came for backup.
"It was something different," Williams said. "I'm glad that it worked out the way it did because I would hate to have seen anything bad go on."
Police said Segarini has a history of threatening people and a history of violent-related crimes.
He was booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail.
The officer received bumps and bruises, but is ok, police said.
