The Department of Justice has announced an investigation into a violent arrest that took place in Arkansas in late August.

Dashcam footage circulated online and across national news outlets showing the violent arrest of 27-year-old Arkansas man, Randal Worcester. The incident took place in Mulberry, a small town about 140 miles northwest of Little Rock, right along Oklahoma’s border.

The police officers who arrested Worcester did not have any active body cameras on them. However, a dash cam on a nearby patrol vehicle belonging to one of the officers recorded the moment they tackled Worcester to the ground. The footage shows officers repeatedly hitting, punching, and even smashing Worcester's head onto the concrete sidewalk.

One of the officers can be seen striking Worcester using a closed fist several times. Another officer is seen kneeing the man in his lower body. During several points, all three officers can be seen picking up and slamming Worcester’s head into the sidewalk.

The three officers were later identified as Crawford County Sheriff’s Office deputies Zach King and Levi White. The third was identified as Mulberry officer Thell Riddle.

Officials detail that the violent arrest took place after a contentious run-in with Worcester. Authorities were alerted to a man making a “ terroristic threat” outside of a convenience store in the town of Mulberry. At one point, Worcester was accused of making a threat to one of the gas station employees.

Worcester then left the convenience store by bike but the officers were able to eventually catch up to him. When authorities confronted him, they explained that he surrendered a knife before attacking one of the responding officers and punching him in the head. The violent arrest took place after Worcester’s attack on the police.

Following the violent arrest, the Crawford County Sheriff's Office announced an investigation into the incident. The Department of Justice announced that their civil rights investigation will be separate from the sheriff's office’s investigation.

Worcester was taken to a local hospital for the injuries he suffered at the hands of the three officers. After his release, he was taken to Van Buren County Jail. Worcester faces a slew of charges, including second-degree battery, resisting arrest, refusal to submit, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, terroristic threatening, and second-degree assault. He was later released on a $15,000 bond.

The violent arrest made national headlines with many critics pointing to the unnecessary and excessive use of violence. The footage of the officers slamming Worcester's head into the pavement is especially jarring and depicts unexplainable excessive use of force. The state's governor, Asa Hutchinson, shared that the arrest displayed "reprehensible conduct" and that the manner in which the officers behaved was “not consistent” with the state's Law Enforcement Training Academy.

The three officers have since been suspended amid the state's police investigation into the arrest. Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante explained, “I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter.” Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory shared a similar statement explaining that “The city of Mulberry and the Mulberry police department takes these investigations very seriously.”

As part of the Justice Department's investigation, agents will work alongside the FBI to investigate the events that unfolded.