The Merced Police Department in California has launched an investigation following the March arrest of a 39-year-old black man, William Colbert, whose mugshot showed him bruised and bloodied. 

Colbert claims the arrest occurred following a disagreement over payment with a clerk at a gas station, ABC 30 reported. He asked the store clerk to refund a charge, but the clerk was unable to do so. In order to film the interaction, Colbert told ABC 30 that he left the gas station to retrieve his phone from the car. When he returned, the clerk had locked the store's door and called the police and reportedly told them Colbert had a gun. 
"I was worried for my life at that point because these guys are rising up, but what made me feel comfortable is that I knew one of the officers," Colbert told ABC 30. 
In an interview with the Merced Sun-Star, Colbert said officers "bumrushed" him when they arrived and threw him face-down into a puddle. He denied having a weapon of any kind on him, the Merced Sun-Star reported. Colbert then described a series of troubling events following his arrest which included officers kneeing him in the back after he complained his handcuffs were too tight and officers punching and kicking him during the altercation. 
"This is the s**t people talk about on the news that I think will never happen to me," Colbert told the Merced Sun-Star. "I'm thankful to be alive."
Merced Police Captain Bimley West said he had been in contact with Colbert since the incident. 
"I have spoken with Mr. Colbert and collected all the statements about what he said had transpired," West said. "This is a formalized internal affairs investigation into this particular matter."
In an interview with ABC 30, West said that the Police Department does not "condone any unprofessionalism" by its officers, but he also added that officers were trying to "detain" Colbert to investigate the matter and that Colbert was the one who did "not allow" officers to do so. 
Colbert can be seen with a swollen eye and bruising on his face in his mugshot, among other injuries he said he incurred during the incident.