Shocking footage of a violent arrest of a cyclist in Vancouver has reignited the debate around police behaviour in Canada. 

David Mattatall witnessed the event taking place on Woodland Street and East Sixth Avenue in the early hours of Wednesday morning. 

Taking to Facebook to recount what happened, the B.C. resident described the actions of police at the scene as "sheer brutality."

According to Mattatall, the incident started with a bylaw infraction, as the cyclist was not wearing a helmet while cycling on the sidewalk. 

Vancouver Police are under investigation after an extremely violent arrest was caught on video 😡-📹David Mattatall #Canada #Vancouver #PoliceBrutality pic.twitter.com/gUW68XnWJ2

— Freshdaily (@freshdaily) August 13, 2020

"The police accelerated and drove over the man, sending him flying over the hood and nearly under the wheels," he claims.

"They got out of their vehicles and began to beat the man about the head and face. He was not fighting back, not for one second."

Video footage from Mattatall captures police yelling at the man to get out of the police car while his legs push into the horn, causing the siren to repeatedly play.

Mattatall continues: "He was tazed by new officers on the scene within minutes and subdued and handcuffed, bleeding profusely from the head. One officer put his knee on the mans neck and the man cried out 'I CANT BREATH' and all of us witness to this screamed for the officer to stop."

Although five squad cars arrived, Mattatall says that no ambulance came. 

The witness finished his post by warning people that an incident like this could happen to "every single person" and "the police must be held accountable."

In a statement sent to CityNews, the Vancouver Police Department confirmed that the incident stems from bylaw infractions because the man was allegedly riding on the sidewalk without a helmet.

“After officers identified themselves, the cyclist then ignored the commands and tried to flee from the police. The cyclist was stopped a short distance later, at which time he began to fight with officers,” the statement claimed.

“During the arrest of the accused male, he punched the officer in the face multiple times and attempted to jump into the driver’s seat of the police vehicle. The man tried to steal the police car and revved the engine in an attempt to get away. After a struggle, he was taken into custody.”

The man was arrested for "obstructing police officers, failing to comply with a release order, assaulting a peace officer, theft of a motor vehicle and flight from police."