The family of a Black teenager has filed a federal lawsuit against four officers with the Stockton Police Department in California after they said police brutally assaulted him during a traffic stop in 2020.

Devin Carter suffered bruises on both eyes and lacerations on his face and back after he was arrested during a police stop on Dec. 30, 2020. According to NBC News, John Burris, the family’s attorney, released body camera footage from the incident and pictures of Carter's horrific wounds.

The attorney said the officers acted like a "pack of wolves" without justification and pulled Carter from his car before beating him.

Burris expressed that he had not seen a police assault this brutal since Rodney King was beaten by Los Angeles police in the early '90s. After a jury acquitted four white officers in 1992, the city became a hotbed of riots and sparked nationwide protests against police brutality, per AP News. 

“These vicious cops acted like a pack of wolves, and Devin was their evening meal. I have not seen a police officer beating this outrageous since my former client Rodney King was beaten by LAPD officers back in March of 1991,” Burris said in a press release.

"Devin was afraid that the officers were going to beat him to death," the attorney added. 

On Friday, the family filed the lawsuit alleging that Carter was driving to his father's house when police began following him to try to pull him over for speeding. According to NBC News, the suit states that Carter was initially unaware that police were tailing him.

The family’s suit contends that officers used a "pursuit intervention technique" to get Carter to stop. The action caused another car to swerve, which was then hit by a police vehicle.

The teenager eventually stopped and awaited further instruction from his car with his hands "visibly raised above the steering wheel.” Moments later, he was recorded on body camera video being dragged from the car and slammed to the ground.

According to bodycam footage, an officer yelled at Carter to "take his f**king seatbelt off," before the teen responded "OK, OK, OK. I'm down."

"I'm not resisting," the teen proclaimed in the video. 

"Devin Carter immediately curled up in a fetal position as multiple officers gathered around him and viciously beat him with their closed fist and feet," the lawsuit states. "Devin Carter was kneed in his face by an officer and was struck in the face a number of times. Additionally, Devin Carter was kicked and kneed in his side and back."

Stockton police argue that their pursuit of the teen started when officers saw Carter driving "erratically and speeding in excess of 100 mph." Police officials alleged that Carter tried to evade the traffic stop by deactivating his headlights and led police on a three-minute chase.

Police said the teen stopped after crashing when he lost control of the vehicle on a turn. NBC News reports, Carter was later processed into a juvenile detention facility on evading and resisting arrest charges.

Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones issued a statement on Tuesday, saying that “several” officers were reprimanded and that officers Michael Stiles and Omar Villapudua were terminated from the department for actions “outside the scope of both our policy and training.”

“Our department has policies that state we should make attempts to avoid striking an arrestee around the head and neck area when possible. Given this set of circumstances, I cannot and will not condone any excessive force. Additionally, any use of profanity is considered unwarranted and not professional,” Jones said.

The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office is also investigating the incident. On Twitter, Mayor Kevin Lincoln released a statement expressing that he was "deeply saddened and concerned" about the events that transpired during the teen’s arrest.

“The use of excessive force is unacceptable and will not be condoned in Stockton,” he wrote.

Devin-CarterJohn-BurrisPolice brutalityStockton-Police-DepartmentTraffic Stop