An offhand comment made by an employee inside a Southern California grocery store Thursday led to a violent arrest and accusations of excessive force by police. Travon Attison, who police say is on parole and has an extensive criminal record, was arrested and charged with felony assault and resisting an officer. The video, shot by another person inside a Food4Less store, doesn’t show Attison, 36, hitting an officer. Shoppers look on in shock as officer pound on Black man (Credit: Fox11 Video Screengrab) At first two officers are seen trying to subdue Attison, who, family members say, was triggered by a store employee asking him, “Whassup, cuz?” Attison, believing he was being stereotyped has a gang member, reacted angrily, demanding the employee be sent home. “The security guard asked him to calm down and he wouldn’t and the other security guard called the cops,” Attison’s wife told Fox 11 in Los Angeles. As many as four cops are seen on the ground trying to wrestle Attison into submission. One is seen repeatedly punching him as a shopper can be heard in the background asking, “What did he do?” “We don’t know,” said another witness. Another screamed in horror, “He didn’t do nothing!” Two more officers arrive on the scene and one is seen repeatedly punching Attison, who is trying to get out from under the fray. A family member, who wished to remain anonymous, told Fox 11 in Los Angeles she was fearful for Attison’s safety inside the jail. “You’re supposed to come and de-escalate the situation,” she said of the police. Adding that one particular officer displayed “anger” and “a temper” and should be fired. She said Attison is nearly finished with parole and was heading out the door when the officers arrived. San Bernardino police would not comment on the actions of the officers. “We came for hot links and hot dogs and we got police brutality,” said the unidentified relative. Last summer, San Bernardino police were hit with a lawsuit alleging excessive force by a citizen involved in a similar situation. An officer can be seen on video striking Billy Hill with a baton more than a dozen times. “I had four fractures in my left leg, and one fracture in my right leg,” Hill told reporters at an August press conference. “It’s the worst pain. I mean, on a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a 20.” Hill was working at the KwikStop Dairy when officers, investigating a report of someone who’d crashed a motorcycle and tried to hide, tried to detain him. Hill, police said, matched the description of the suspect. The baton was used after the suspect “resisted, by tensing up his arms, which prevented officers from being successful,” San Bernardino Police Sgt. Chris Gray said at the time. San Bernardino is one of California’s most volatile cities, with a violent crime rate roughly double the state’s average. The city’s 2023 estimated homicide rate was 16.2 per 100,000 residents — more than triple the California average of 4.8 per 100,000 residents, according to the Los Angeles Times. That prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to deploy an unspecified number of California Highway Patrol units on the ground in San Bernardino targeting gangs, stolen vehicles and “ghost guns.” “This collaboration allows us to share resources, intelligence, and expertise, enhancing our ability to reduce crime and create a safer environment for all members of the community,” CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said in a statement. ‘He Didn’t Do Nothing!’: Three White Officers Caught on Video Repeatedly Punching Black Man Who Confronted Grocery Store Employee for Stereotyping Him