Santa Clara police are responding to accusations they went too far in dealing with a fan at Levi’s Stadium during the Pac-12 football championship game.
Officers were trying to eject a belligerent fan from the Oregon-Arizona game, police say.
The arrest was caught on tape and posted online. It shows officers hitting 44-year-old Mark Lydon with a baton on the back of his leg. It also shows another officer putting his arm around Lydon and several officers surrounding him.
During the incident, other fans can be heard commenting Lydon was not fighting back, but Lt. Kurt Clarke with the Santa Clara Police Department said the widely disseminated video doesn’t show what happened before the camera started rolling.
“Mr. Lydon came into contact with stadium staff and was very intoxicated and belligerent,” Lt. Clarke said. “He refused to follow directions and an officer saw this and decided to intercede.”
Whenever force is used during an arrest, there is an internal investigation. From there, the case could potentially go to the district attorney’s office for review.
Officers arrested Lydon for resisting arrest and assaulting an officer. Police say that assault happened when Lydon pushed an officer.
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Lydon, who is from Eugene, Oregon, did not return NBC Bay Area’s attempts to reach him for comment.
