Video shows D.C. man's brutal arrest on Ocean City, Maryland Boardwalk

The parents of a Washington D.C. man say their son was brutalized by a police officer during an arrest on the Ocean City, Maryland Boardwalk.

The whole thing was caught on camera.

You can hear the man's friends objecting seconds after the punch lands.

The confrontation happened last week but WJZ just got access to the video.

The man on the ground is 34-year-old Denzel Elam-Ruff.

His parents claim the officers targeted him because they were trying to enforce a ban against vaping on the boardwalk. The resort city was previously threatened with lawsuits in 2021 over the violent arrests of two Black teenagers over the ordinance. 

Charging documents reveal that Ruff "intentionally smoked his vape" after being told about the ordinance, refused to stop when ordered and then resisted arrest.

"He could have been killed," his Coles Ruff told WUSA 9 in Washington D.C.

His mother, Patricia Elam-Walker said, "I felt his fear. I felt my fear. I felt how close we were to possibly losing him."

"Seeing him on the ground, seeing the policeman punching him – he's on the ground, they're holding him down. He's not moving. He's not a threat. So why was that necessary?"  Elam-Walker said. "It just infuriated me and saddened me, and it just made me feel like this cannot keep happening." 

Ruff, whose LinkedIn page says he's a regional golf coach, was taken to the ground by police for allegedly defying the town's ban on vaping on the Boardwalk.

Police did not account for the punch that appeared to be thrown.

Ruff was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting/interfering with an arrest, 2nd-degree assault, and failure to provide proof of identification – all misdemeanors.