SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) — A man who was hit more than a dozen times with a baton by a San Bernardino police officer has filed a lawsuit against the city, accusing the officer of excessive use of force.

“I had four fractures in my left leg and one fracture in my right,” Billy Hill said at a press conference attended by his lawyers. “It’s the worst pain. I mean, on a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a 20.”

The incident occurred on June 6 near the Kwik Stop Dairy on East 40th Street in San Bernardino, where Hill worked.

Police officers in San Bernardino were investigating a report of someone crashing a motorcycle and trying to cover it up. According to the 911 tape, the caller stated the suspect was a white male wearing a black shirt and blue jeans. Police said Hill matched the suspect’s description and police attempted to arrest him.

READ MORE | San Bernardino police officer repeatedly hits man with baton during arrest

“The officers initially attempted to simply place his hands behind his back to perform a simple handcuffing procedure,” Sergeant Chris Gray said of a video posted by San Bernardino police on social media showing body camera footage.

“He resisted by tensing his arms, which prevented the officers from being successful.”

Gray said an officer unsuccessfully attempted to use a Taser on the suspect. Gray said after the suspect attempted to wrestle the Taser away, an officer used the baton on the suspect to compel him to comply.

“There would have been a much more civil, humane and appropriate way to handle this situation,” said attorney Sharon Brunner. “Even if there was resistance, it was passive at best. It was not active, it was not violent and it had no intention of hurting anyone.”

Eyewitness News showed the videos to Dr. Tommy Tunson, a retired Bakersfield-area police chief.

“He wouldn’t comply and the officers tried to calm him down and stop him from reacting like that,” Tunson said. “But that didn’t seem to work, so the violence escalated even further.”

“I was there with Rodney King and I remember seeing it with my own eyes on television,” he added. “This was not the same situation.”