Bodycam video shows Belmar, New Jersey police putting a surfer in a chokehold

Earlier this week, police on the New Jersey shore chokeheld and then arrested a man for allegedly surfing without a beach badge.

Videos posted on social media and shared by Belmar police on Thursday show several officers confronting a man in a wetsuit, putting him in a chokehold and hurling him into the sand.

“A local surfer was arrested at Belmar Beach on 19th Avenue for not wearing a beach badge on his wetsuit, even though the badge was attached to his beach bag,” fellow surfer Austin Downs captioned videos posted to Facebook. “During the arrest, officers put him in a chokehold and threw him to the ground.”

In the videos, the surfer can be heard telling police: “Here's my badge,” while pointing to the passport on his bag. “I went to the shower.”

The man resists the police officers' grip, who grab him by the arms and eventually bring him to the ground. Several people start screaming when a passerby shouts: “Let him go! This kind of thing happens on the news!”

Belmar police identified the surfer on Wednesday as 28-year-old Liam Mahoney, a Belmar native who lives in Junction City, Calif. They said he was charged with disturbing the peace, resisting law enforcement and obstruction of justice and was ticketed for not having a beach tag on him.

The officer who put Mahoney in a chokehold was identified as Ryan E. Braswell.

When Belmar Police Chief Tina Scott released the bodycam video on Thursday, she claimed the footage showed police acted appropriately. She said officers conducted identity checks after receiving several reports of people sneaking onto the beach.

She added that a review of the incident would be conducted “in accordance with applicable policies of the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.”

Witnesses to Tuesday's arrest said officers overreacted.

“Everyone knows he had a beach badge, but surfers aren't allowed to wear it on their wetsuits because it would destroy their expensive wetsuits,” Bart Yarnold told ABC 7 New York.

Beach passes, which cost $12 per day for anyone age 14 and older, are required at Belmar beaches from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends and holidays.