WATCH: Brooklyn Fire Inspector Mauls Bodega Clerk

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Former Bed-Stuy bodega clerk Ali Alkaifi is suing the city in Brooklyn federal court, alleging that uniformed Fire Department of New York (FDNY) employee Eric Monk violated Alkaifi's civil rights and used excessive force when he mauled the young clerk behind the G Line Deli Grocery counter on July 8, 2013 — and that FDNY and NYPD officials never bothered to investigate.

Video of the beating was provided to DNAinfo by Alkaifi's lawyer, and is included above.

In the disturbing footage, Monk, a fire-code inspector, can be seen elbowing Alkaifi in the face, shoving him, punching him repeatedly and putting him in a choke hold — then letting him dangle by his neck for more than half a minute.

Monk had entered the bodega on the corner of Nostrand and Lafayette avenues (pictured below) around 9 a.m. that morning with the intention of conducting an inspection of its "fire suppression system," according to a civil complaint filed by Alkaifi and his attorney, Mikah Kwasnik.

But after more than 10 minutes of snooping around in the tight space behind the counter, the complaint says, Alkaifi asked Monk if he could "step away from the grill and deli case" so another bodega employee could continue preparing food for customers.

At this, "Defendant Monk yelled at Plaintiff to provide him with identification," the complaint says.

Things only escalated from there — and ended violently, the complaint says, with the beatdown caught on tape.

Alkaifi suffered "a fracture to the left Sphenoid Bone, periorbital contusions to the left eye, abrasions to face, lump to left temporal area, edema to right eye, and a diminution of vision" during the beating, according to the complaint.

The bodega clerk is also claiming Monk repeatedly called him the N word during the assault.

Photos allegedly taken a few days later show Alkaifi with a heavy black eye and raw, bloody patches on his elbow.

And on top of the physical pain, Alkaifi's attorney told Patch, came the anguish of being turned away by a long line of city officials in the months that followed — from multiple 79th Precinct police officers, who allegedly refused to file Alkaifi's claims, to the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn and two different Brooklyn District Attorneys, who all allegedly refused to take on the case.

The U.S. Attorney's Office and the DA's office both declined to comment on whether they'd been approached to represent Alkaifi.

"I look at this video, and I wonder to myself, 'Why is someone like Ali, who speaks with an accent... why does nobody care?'" Kwasnik, the young man's attorney, asked in a phone interview, exasperated.

"My client is a regular guy," Kwasnik said. "The cops saw him and quickly sized him up as someone they see as a nobody."

Alkaifi is a Yemen-born U.S. citizen who immigrated to America as a young boy, according to his lawyer. He was fired from G Line Deli Grocery after the 2013 incident, Kwasnik said, and was forced to move outside Brooklyn to find work.

The NYPD's press office declined to comment on Alkaifi's allegations against its 79th Precinct officers, and directed all questions to the FDNY.

An FDNY spokesman said the department could not comment on any "alleged criminal matter" involving Monk, and advised that we instead "consult with the NYPD."

The FDNY did confirm, though, that "Eric Monk was not suspended and is an active member of the Bureau of Fire Prevention."

The NYC Law Department, in charge of defending the city against lawsuits, said only: "We are reviewing the video.”