Original Article New Orleans police caught on tape hitting man, 64, and TV producer Mary Foster Associated Press Oct. 10, 2005 12:00 AM NEW ORLEANS - Two New Orleans police officers repeatedly punched a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication, and another city officer assaulted an Associated Press Television News producer as a cameraman taped the confrontations. There will be a criminal investigation, and the three officers were to be suspended, arrested and charged with simple battery on Sunday, Capt. Marlon Defillo said. "We have great concern with what we saw this morning," Defillo said after he and about a dozen other high-ranking Police Department officials watched the APTN footage Sunday. "This department will take immediate action." The assaults come as the department, long plagued by allegations of brutality and corruption, struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the resignation last month of its police superintendent. The tape shows an officer hitting the man at least four times in the head Saturday as he stood outside a bar near Bourbon Street. The suspect, Robert Davis, appeared to resist, twisting and flailing as he was dragged to the ground by four officers. Another officer then kneed Davis and punched him twice. Davis was facedown on the sidewalk with blood streaming down his arm. Meanwhile, a fifth officer ordered APTN producer Rich Matthews and the cameraman to stop recording. When Matthews held up his credentials and explained he was working, the officer grabbed the producer, leaned him backward over a car, jabbed him in the stomach and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade. "I've been here for six weeks trying to keep . . . alive. . . . Go home!" shouted the officer, who later identified himself as S.M. Smith. Police said Davis of New Orleans was booked on public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. He was treated at a hospital and released into police custody.