17-year-old Ulysses Wilkerson has been hospitalized after being beaten by police officers, according to CNN.

The teen was arrested in Troy, Alabama on Christmas Eve.

"He had trauma to the brain, swelling on the brain, and a cracked eye socket in three different places," the teen's father, Ulysses Wilkerson, Jr said. His mother claims that the officers assaulted her son while he was in handcuffs.

The Troy Police Department claims that something "vastly different" happened. Instead of officers beating him, the department says that the teen sustained the injuries resisting arrest. According to a police press release, officers saw Ulysses walking around downtown Troy. Those officers claim that Ulysses began running when they approached him. The officers also said Ulysses reached into his waistband, causing them to fear he was about to shoot them.

The department alleges that Ulysses did not put his hands up when instructed to do so, and that "officers had to use physical force to affect the arrest. The force used was reasonable and necessary."

Photo: Sadot Wilkerson

Ulysses' parents are demanding to see dash cam and officer body camera footage. There is a problem with that, however: only one of the officers involved in the arrest had a body cam, and that officer switched it off.

Fortunately, video and audio of the incident from other sources does exist. All of those files have been given to Pike County District Attorney Tom Anderson, who told CNN he has yet to have a chance to look at them.

It is also unclear whether or not Wilkerson is being charged with a crime. The Troy Police Department claims that Ulysses was charged with misdemeanor obstruction and resisting arrest. His father says that police told him otherwise.

"They had him handcuffed when we got in there," Ulysses' father said. "They said he was charged with obstruction of justice. The ambulance came to take him to [the University of Alabama-Birmingham Hospital]. They took the handcuffs off of him and dropped the charges on him."

For his part, Anderson is not only unsure what the recordings he has contain, but is also not sure if Ulysses is facing any charges.

Photo: Sadot Wilkerson

The incident is being reviewed by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), which sent officials to interview members of the Troy Police Department this week.

Ulysses' parents have lamented that they have not been able to get more information about what happened. The department has refused to release the names of the officers involved, and has also refused to say whether those officers are still on active duty.

For now, all they, and we have to go on is the account of an eyewitness, Brittany Patterson, who saw part of the arrest.

Patterson says she saw the arrest from her car. "You could see the swelling on his face," she said. "You could tell that his face had a lot of bleeding. He looked, like I said, like he was passed out maybe, or in and out of consciousness or something."

Although at the time, Patterson wasn't exactly sure what was going on, she says she had one thought on her mind as she drove away: "I hope they're not beating him."

Ulysses Wilkerson

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