Beat Down! Atlanta Cop Caught Punching Female IHOP Patron in the Face

After last week's horrific video of a transgender woman getting pummeled in a Baltimore McDonald's sparked outrage, now video has surfaced showing an off-duty Atlanta cop scuffling with an IHOP patron early Sunday morning and slugging her in the face. It also shows him putting her in a headlock and wrangling her to the ground:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) explains what happened:

According to several videos posted on YouTube.com, the officer, whose name was not known, shouted at a woman sitting in the corner of a booth near the door and then he lunged at her. A woman wearing a black dress appeared to be trying to separate the officer and her friend when the officer slapped her. The woman in the black dress hit him back and he responded with a punch to her face.

A second officer came up just as the struggle began. He got involved when it became physical between the first cop and the woman in the black dress and appeared to be trying to separate the two. The first officer pulled the woman in a black dress away from the table, threw her onto the floor and laid on top of her while trying to get handcuffs on one wrist. The second wrist was cuffed when she turned over on her stomach.

Within moments, a female officer appeared to hold back the crowd while the woman in the black dress, shoeless, was led out of the restaurant.

“The Atlanta Police Department is aware of the incident that took place early Sunday morning involving one of its officers attempting to arrest a patron at an IHOP in Buckhead," the police department said in a statement to the AJC. "The matter has been referred to our Office of Professional Standards to determine whether department policies and procedures were followed. Further comment at this time would not be appropriate.”