(A link to the video of the San Bernardino police beating can be found at bottom of this page)

By Eric Stevenson

(AXcess News) Carson City, NV - Darren Johnson, 43, a Veteran and local business owner, was beaten by police at a San Bernardino 7-11 store Monday night in what police say was a routine traffic stop before being whisked away and held in a then undisclosed location after it was learned an AXcess News reporter was on the scene at the time of the altercation and videotaped the beating.

Brandon Piddington, a reporter for AXcess News, arrived at the 7-11 store sometime after 9:30pm Monday when he noticed San Bernardino police had pulled a man over who had been riding a motorcycle, but then all hell broke loose when a scuffle broke out between Mr. Johnson and several police officers when the reporter quickly turned his camera on the scene unfolding before him.

Piddington, who was standing approximately 25 feet from the altercation, said he hadn't seen how it started when asked if he saw Johnson strike any of the police officers before the beating began.

"I don't know if he did or didn't," said Piddington. "I was inside the 7-Eleven grabbing a snack, so while I did not see what caused Mr. Johnson to end up on the ground, I can deduce that the alleged incident happened sometime between when I entered the store, and when I got back to the counter."  Piddington noted that it was only a matter of seconds from when he first noticed the police talking to Mr. Johnson and he entered the store before the scuffle began.

Piddington said that Johnson didn't appear to be handcuffed when police officers began using force, though he was lying on his back at the time.   According to audio from the reporter's videotape you can hear police officers shouting at Mr. Johnson "to get on his belly", which according to the video his body was contorted as he struggled to avoid their blows.

One San Bernardino police officer took full, mighty, two-handed swings with his night stick in beating Mr. Johnson on his legs while another officer appeared crouched over his head, though the video doesn't show that policeman using a night stick.  The blows were hard, fast and enough to break bone if you watch the video tape closely.  Clearly Mr. Johnson would need hospitalization following the beating he took that night.

The reporter said that other police began arriving in less than a minute with as many as ten San Bernardino police officers on the scene when one moved toward the entrance of the 7-eleven, pointedly asking Piddington "what did you see, what did you see", as if knowing Johnson had been badly beaten to the point where police where concerned over witnesses reactions.

Piddington stated that by then at least a half dozen people were watching which is evident by the audio portion of the reporter's video where you can hear other witnesses crying "police brutality".

Police have refused to talk to the press following the beating as television crews descend on San Bernardino as the story unfolds.  Mr. Johnson's wife, Landra Santana, a nurse at a local San Bernardino hospital was distraught and worried after police withheld access to Mr. Johnson prompting her to retain San Bernardino lawyer, Gary Wenkle Smith.

Smith told reporters, "The family has been in a state of shock because they know he was hurt but didn't know the severity of his injuries."

Smith noted that Mrs. Johnson "has tried for two days to find out where he is."

Since then, Johnson's attorney has withdrawn from the press as he prepares his case and both the San Bernardino police do the same.

There's more to the story in Piddington's interview with Landra Santana and the San Bernardino police who were at the reporter's home early the following morning where Detectives quizzed Piddington with ... "what did you see, what did you see."

AXcess News will be posting those stories next, so please check back for the latest update.

To view the San Bernardino police beating video, click here.