Video: Pittsburgh Cop Body Slams Cubs Fan in Goat Costume

The incident took place Oct. 7 at the Pirates-Cubs wildcard game.

The video begins with the Cubs fan asking the officer “Can I talk to you?” as he’s being escorted out of the park. The camera follows them until a commotion breaks out, and a security guard yells “Put the phone down.” The video, recorded by a friend of the Cubs fan, then refocuses on him as he’s held against a metal fence, then bear-hugged and body slammed to the pavement.

Mayor Bill Peduto saw the video Sunday night and ordered an internal investigation of the officer’s conduct, reports Reuters.

“This was just brought to our attention,” police spokeswoman Sonya Toler told Reuters. “We must investigate before anything is determined.”

The fan, thus far identified only as Dmitri by sports fan site SportsMockery.com, said he was not arrested but he hurt his back and had to visit an emergency room. He said the episode began when he was hit with a “spit” cup by a Pirates fan in the bleachers.

Dmitri shared this with Sports Mockery:

“After I was notified by text that I was on TV, I tried holding up my sign and was hit with a “spit” chewing tobacco cup by a Pirates fan in the left field bleachers. I had an exchange of words with the fan and the usher told me I was kicked out. I left my seat and was exiting through the concourse when a Pittsburgh police officer who didn’t know any details confronted me, once I asked him if I could talk to him about the situation, he grabbed me and attempted to put me in a choke hold.”