police car
A California cop was seen on video ramming his cruiser into a motorcyclist before he placed the man under arrest. A California Highway Patrol officer is pictured standing next to his car on Oct. 28, 2009 in Oakland, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A Southern California police officer on Sunday was recorded on video driving into a biker and knocking him off his motorcycle, angering fellow riders and sparking an investigation by the police department.

A group of motorcyclists claimed that a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer intentionally used his patrol car to clip a rider before he placed the man in handcuffs. Cellphone video captured by an eyewitness shows the moment when the CHP cruiser hit the rider off his bike and onto the ground.

The bikers were riding eastbound on Freeway 210 in Rancho Cucamonga, a suburban city in San Bernardino County, en route to a fundraiser in honor of Memorial Day.

The rider, later identified as 26-year-old Raul Garcia, was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation before he was arrested on suspicion of felony evading and booked into the West Valley Detention Center, according to KABC, an ABC affiliate in Los Angeles. He suffered injuries including bruising to his left leg, shoulder and lower back from the collision.

According to a statement by the CHP, Garcia had been traveling at a "high rate of speed" at the time and "for unknown reasons, the left side of the Yamaha made contact with the right side of the patrol vehicle on 19th Street west of Carnelian Street."

The bikers said they became angry after witnessing the crash and confronted the officer during the arrest. Rider Jose Figueroa claimed that the officer began to act aggressively toward Garcia while the group had been traveling.

"He panicked, you know? Our brother panicked, and he got out the way and sped up, tried to get out the way, and the cop chased him," Figueroa told KCAL, a CBS affiliate in Los Angeles. "We pulled up to the liquor store, and that’s when he rammed him."

Garcia's family said they planned to take legal action against the police department.

"From what I saw from the video, you know, I [saw] my husband’s brake going on," the rider's wife, Desiree Garcia, told the news outlet. "It looked like he was, he was trying to pull over, and the cop just hit him out of nowhere."

The incident remained under investigation as of Tuesday, according to the CHP. Garcia is scheduled to make a court appearance on Wednesday.

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