Decatur Police address video

Decatur Police address video

This video you're looking out is making its way across social media.

It shows a man being punched in the face by one decatur police officer and pinned to the ground by others.

This happened at star spirits and beverages liquor store off sixth avenue on march 15.

The man who was hit is the owner.

He called police claiming his business was being robbed.

But when police showed up -- they said he was mistaken for a suspect.

Decatur police chief nate allen held a news conference today addressing the entire situation.

This case here, it was not an officer involved shooting, it was a punch.

I would much rather have a punch than an officer involved shooting.

Waay31's megan reyna joins us live outside decatur police with what police say led up to this use of force -- and what the owner is doing about it i spoke to the business owner tonight -- kevin penn.

He told me he's not ready to go on camera yet about this situation but plans to take legal action.

However -- the police chief didn't hesitate to show us even more video from that night.

Nats police entering in this body camera video -- police are entering the store... where owner kevin penn has a shoplifter already on the ground.

But as police approach penn -- decatur police chief nate allen said the officers mistook him for a suspect.

Natz: "you got a gun?"

"i got you, but i need you to have your gun put down too."

"my gun is there, my gun is here, i'm not going to put down if you have guns too."

Penn starts to argue with police over his gun.

But at this time -- he's holding a magazine... while the gun was on the counter.

Allen says:"and he said i'm not going to put the gun down and that gives an impression to the officer that he has a gun in his hand" that's when this happened.

An officer punching penn in the face.

Two others help pin him down.

When the police chief was asked if he thought it was excessive force this is what he had to say -- allen says:"our procedure is to use the least amount of force to get the job done."

Allen adds when a gun is involved -- it can potentially be a life or death situation.

He understands right now more than ever -- he wants to remain transparent with the public.

Allen says:"because of the things going on, the protest, the lack of trust the community has going on, especially communities of color, the lack of trust they have with police departments, we just want to ensure that we are here to serve all communities here."

This is an on-going investigation.

Now i did reach out to kevin penn's attorney -- and haven't heard back.

The three officers involved with this incident are still with the department.

However the officer who punched penn in the face is on administrative duties for now.

Reporting live in decatur mr waay 31 news