Caught on tape: Police 'stripped unarmed man naked, kicked, beat and tasered him as he lay screaming in snow'

Four police officers allegedly stripped an unarmed man naked, handcuffed him then viciously beat him as he lay screaming and shivering in the snow.

Darrin Ring, 34, was left with four broken ribs and a punctured lung after the brutal attack in Waverly, Tennessee, which was recorded by a dashboard camera in one of the police cars.

He spent five months in jail on charges of resisting police arrest, but all the counts were dropped when his lawyer obtained the shocking tape.

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Taking a swipe: One of the officers raises his arm to punch Darrin Ring as he lays in the snow. His bare legs can be seen to the left of the officers

Now the FBI has launched a criminal investigation into the violent incident.

It happened in January, when the four officers answered a call reporting gunshots in the area.

Instead they discovered Ring, wandering around intoxicated and unarmed.

Brutal attack: Darrin Ring claims the police officers punched and kicked him as he lay naked in the snow

The video shows one officer repeatedly demanding that he take his hand out of his pockets. He appears to obey, but then puts them back in again.

Eventually the officer appears to lose patience and wrestles him to the ground.

Then his colleagues join in, stripping Ring and leaving him lying in the snow.

According to his civil lawsuit, the officers then stunned him multiple times with a Taser gun and sprayed him over and over again with pepper spray.

The full ordeal allegedly lasted for ten minutes. On the clip released by Ring's lawyer, he can be seen lying on the ground with two officers on top of him while two more appear to take turns kicking and punching him.

As he screams and writhes in pain, another repeatedly barks: 'Roll over on your belly!'.

Orders: The attack starts as a police officer repeatedly tells Ring to take his hands out of his pockets. Ring appears drunk and confused

Fury: Then the officer appears to run out of patience with Ring, and grabs him round the waist before hurling him to the floor

Later on in the attack, another officer screams: 'If he even flinches, shoot his ass.'

Ring was eventually arrested and charged with resisting arrest and three counts of aggravated assault on a police officer. His booking photo shows cuts and bruises to his face and forehead.

The officers claimed he had kicked one of them in the testicles and poked him in the eye, and had tried to steal a gun off another one.

He spent five months in jail because he couldn't afford to post bond, but earlier this month public-appointed attorney Jake Lockert discovered the video and called for the charges to be dismissed, branding them an attempt by the officers to 'cover up their own criminal conduct'.

Brutal: One of the officers can clearly be seen kicking Ring, who lays screaming and writhing on the snowy ground

Shocking: An officer again takes a swipe at Darrin Ring

On July 11, the district attorney dropped all the charges and released Ring.

At first Chris Davis, the Humphreys County sheriff, defended his deputies, and described the tape as a 'two-dimensional depiction' of the incident.

But he changed his mind when the FBI began investigating, shortly after the video became public.

Humphreys County sheriff's deputies Tim Hedge, James McCord and Benjie Lee, along with Waverly Police Department officer Joe Parnell, have all now been placed on leave.

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Comment by Donna G Turner on January 10, 2012 at 12:35pm: All these cops here should be in prison & most of the others that are lawyers/judges & so on. They make me sick ! I had a run in with em in 2006. I wish i had of sued the hell outta em all !

Comment by bryan l on July 31, 2011 at 10:25pm: the thing that gets me is the people standing there watching and don't say or do anything about it. i sure hope their not friends of his.

Comment by Citizen X74 on July 29, 2011 at 8:17am: just don't know what to say about this one. how about piggy piggy suuuueeeee! oink oink!

Comment by LYNN SHEDLER on July 28, 2011 at 4:23am: THIS IS SO HORRIBLE!! To happen to a guy with NO weapons - just drunk and it took 4 officers to be called to the scene, of what crime. They should be put in jail for what they did (Not to reflect on what they did - that's Bullshit) and stand trial for for assult. In a time of budget cuts - 2 officers would have been enough, but 4??? What was the charge - being drunk on Private property. There is more to this story that what we've been told - deffinately. The victim will be compensated for this in a Civil Suit.

Comment by arisuta2 on July 27, 2011 at 10:42pm: No, no, no, SHTFgirl, they are merely misunderstood. The man frightened them and frightened people HAVE to protect themselves. If that means beating the living shit out of innocent people because they happen to be drunk, too bad. These officers ust be suspended on full pay so that they have time to reflect on what they did and enjoy the feeling of power that their badges, guns, tasers and sticks gives them.

Comment by SHTFgirl on July 27, 2011 at 9:58pm: I couldn't watch. Reading this was enough. These cops need to be thrown in jail at the very least FIRED. They should be personally sued because why should tax payers have to bear the expense of these scumbag officers. Take all their assets and make an example of them. Until these officers actually lose their homes and jobs and their freedom this abuse will continue.

Comment by arisuta2 on July 27, 2011 at 8:10pm: "Roll over on your belly, roll over on your stomach, roll over on your stomach, squeal like a pig! Make like a pig boy! Soooweee!

Is this a scene from 'Deliverence'?

Comment by arisuta2 on July 27, 2011 at 8:07pm: He didn't even appear to have his hands IN his pockets. When told his arms moved straight out from his body, not up and out as would be expected if his hands were in his trouser pockets or back and down if they were in his jacket pockets. Which one is meant to be intoxicated here? Bubba with the gun and badge or the poor sod he victimised for not being a cop? And to think that there are still people out there who think the police are on OUR SIDE!