WATCH: Philly Police Beat Suspect in Arrest

Video attracts national attention; police begin internal investigation.

Philly Police have begun an internal investigation into a YouTube video that shows officers beating a suspect during an April arrest.

The video was released Wednesday by Los Angeles blogger Jasmyne Cannick and quickly drew national attention. It depicts the April 3 arrest of 22-year-old Tyree Carroll, who reportedly was charged with drug and assault offenses stemming from the incident.

According to Cannick:

According to family members, Tyree was stopped by a police officer for going the wrong way on a one-way street.

When he was stopped by the police officer, Tyree obeyed and got off of his bike and spoke with the officer. The officer then proceeded to put Tyree’s hands behind his back before four policemen were suddenly on top of him. One police officer put Tyree in a chokehold and wrestled him to the ground.

Officers repeatedly struck him with their fists. They kicked him and hit him with a nightstick.

The cops can be heard yelling “tase the motherfucker” and called Tyree a “piece of shit.”

Cannick added that Carroll received visitors in jail this week. “According to Tyree, when he was placed in a chokehold his chest began to hurt very bad and he couldn’t breathe. He said that he thought about Eric Garner and dying and his reflexes kicked in and he tried to free his airways the best way he could at the time. Tyree says that he only bit the officers to try and keep from dying because he could not breathe.”

Raw Story reports: “Philadelphia court records show Carroll was arrested April 4 by Philadelphia police and is still in custody, scheduled for arraignment on July 21. The court document shows bail set at only $5,000 with Carroll facing drug-related charges. Cannick reports he can’t be freed on bail due to a previous parole violation, and that his family is working to free him and get charges dropped.”

The Daily News adds: “Lt. John Stanford, a police spokesman, told the Daily News late Wednesday that the department was made aware of the video shortly after it was posted and that ‘an investigation into the matter is underway.’ … Stanford said that Internal Affairs investigators were in the process Wednesday of identifying all of the officers depicted in the video, filmed with a smartphone by a bystander.”