An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer who was named Officer of the Year back in May is under investigation for excessive use of force after surveillance footage surfaced showing him attacking a man who called for police assistance following a suspected burglary.

The victim, 60-year-old Maryland businessman Brian Hudkins, was in town last September to attend a home theater trade show he co-founded, and was booked to stay at the local JW Marriot.

An employee of Hudkins, Andrew Davis, who was staying in the same hotel, returned to his room after dinner, but was unable to get in and could hear chatter inside.

Fearing he was being robbed, Davis found Hudkins, and together they informed the hotel's management and asked to alert the police.

Officer T. Michael Wilson soon arrived at the scene, and approached Hudkins and Davis to investigate the situation.

But just 16 seconds later, Hudkins found himself being hurled to the ground by Wilson — an unprovoked attack that left him multiple lacerations that took weeks to heal.

In his official report, Wilson claimed that Hudkins was asked to "quiet down" but refused, and stuck a finger in the officer's face.

The video clearly contradicts this claim, as well as the officer's allegation that he "attempted to push Mr. Hudkins backwards and away from the situation," only to have Hudkins "forcibly push backwards."

Hudkins hands were behind his back practically the entire time, the video shows.

Wilson later appears to throw a handcuffed Hudkins on the ground a second time — once again, unprovoked.

WISH-TV's I-Team 8 showed the video to Police Chief Rick Hite, and asked if Officer Wilson was using excessive force.

"I'm not denying what we saw or what we seen but we have a policy and process in which we adjudicate each and every investigation," he said.

Hite claimed he had note seen the video before, but I-Team 8 later discovered the footage had been sent to the IMPD nearly five months ago — before Wilson was named Community Policing Support Officer of the Year.

"Absent of any additional information at this point, you have forced me to now request every piece of paper, every document related to this case for immediate review by internal affairs," Hite told the station's reporter.

Hudkins, meanwhile, has filed a lawsuit against IMPD and the city of Indianapolis seeking $700,000 in damages for battery and defamation.

Hudkins suits says he was compelled into a guilty plea on the night of his arrest that allowed him to expunge the charges from his record if he stays away from the JW Marriott, avoids another arrest, and donates $500 to the IMPD's Clothe a Child program.

As for Davis' hotel room, it seems the Marriott moved his things into a different room without telling him, and lost some of his clothes and damaged his laptop in the process.

[photo via CEPro]