A Staten Island man who was violently arrested outside of his home in June by four police officers is now suing the NYPD $25 million for civil rights violations, alleging that the officers shouted homophobic slurs at him while stomping on his head, neck, and ankle. The officers were responding to a noise complaint at the man's home, and the beating was captured on video, by a neighbor across the street.

Louis Falcone, 31, lives in the Midland Beach neighborhood of Staten Island with his 66-year-old mother, and works as a caterer. "My client's physical injuries are egregious," attorney Eric Subin told us this afternoon. "But he also hasn't been able to sleep since the incident. He's been living in a state of constant fear since this happened, convinced that the police are out to get him."

According to Subin, Falcone got into a loud argument with his brother on June 19th, around 4:30 a.m., when his sibling showed up at his home drunk and belligerent from a night of partying. Subin believes that the argument prompted a neighbor to call in a noise complaint. However, Subin says that Falcone's brother had already left, and Falcone himself was asleep in bed, by the time four officers arrived at his house at 5:30 a.m.

In the video, taken through a window across the street, one officer is heard asking Falcone to come outside. The officer then enters through the front door, and pulls Falcone out into the front yard. As Falcone's mother stands in the doorway, the officers pull him to the ground and pile on top of him. It is not clear from the video where the officers strike Falcone, nor what they say to him as they struggle to arrest him.

Subin says that before Falcone was pulled outside, his dog Looch, a terrier-pit bull mix, started barking inside the house (barking is faintly audible on in the video). According to Subin, one of the officers then "put his hand on his gun, and said, 'You shut that fucking dog up, or I will fucking kill it,'" before pulling Falcone outside.

According to the suit, the officers proceeded to call Falcone "fag" and "faggot" as they kneed his neck, and stepped on his head and foot. "Falcone was in his pajamas," Subin said. "He was wearing high-cut gym shorts and sort of a lacy-looking top. According to Falcone, his voice gets a little high when he's nervous. That must have been enough for them to say, 'This guy is a homosexual, so let's kick the shit out of him,' essentially."

Falcone, who weighs 150 pounds, was also wearing a surgical boot, having recently undergone foot surgery. According to Subin, Falcone was initially shoved onto the concrete, then dragged onto the lawn, where his face was shoved into the mud. Before losing consciousness, Falcone remembers spitting out blood and mud, and overhearing one officer say, "all faggots have AIDS so I'm sure this one does too."

Falcone woke up in the emergency room, and was not charged or formally arrested. He sustained a broken nose, two black eyes, and cuts on his face and body. He has since undergone additional foot surgery.

An NYPD source tells us that police responded to a 911 call from Falcone's mother on the morning of June 19th. According to the NYPD, she was alarmed that her sons were fighting and tearing up her house. Police insist Falcone's brother is the one who punched him in the face, and that Falcone spit in an officer's face as he was being taken into custody. Another source tells the Daily News that "Falcone became belligerent and uncooperative" when four officers arrived at the home.

Subin has plans to meet with the NYPD's Internal Affairs bureau this afternoon, in hopes of identifying the four officers who beat Falcone.

Tomorrow, Subin is filing a complaint with the Civilian Complaint Review Board. "I'm going to pass everything along to the Richmond County DA's office, and make sure some retribution comes out of this, in addition to compensation for my client," Subin said. "Unfortunately, in our experience, even when claims against police officers are substantiated, it leads to a slap on the wrist."

Still, Subin would like to sue the individual police officers for punitive damages, as well. "We're going to drag them into the office at the very least, and they'll have to give their account of what happened that day," he said. "And if the city is not going to compensate Mr. Falcone by way of settlement, we'll take it to trial."