A New York City police officer was stripped of his gun and badge after video of an arrest prompted an investigation

A New York city police officer was placed on modified duty after video surfaced of a weekend arrest.

Officer Francis X. Garcia was stripped of his gun and badge and an investigation has been launched by the Internal Affairs Bureau regarding the arrest in Lower Manhattan this weekend.

CNN has reached out to Garcia for comment.

Video of the incident obtained by CNN shows a scuffle between a person and officers before that person is put in handcuffs while on the ground.

One officer tells people around them to move back while holding a stun gun in his hand. The video then shows a person approach the officer before the officer pulls them to the ground, punching and slapping them. Two officers move in to assist, video shows.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea addressed the incident Monday after video of the arrest circulated on social media. A number of people were not wearing masks when plain-clothed officers responded to the location on Saturday, Shea explained.

Officers observed a group in violation of social distancing order and instructed the group to disperse, according to a press release from the NYPD issued Sunday.

Some people in the group complied while others refused, the release said.

A bag of marijuana was in “plain view” and one person became “aggressive towards officers and resisted arrest,” according to the release.

One person tried to intervene and was arrested before a third person, who had been ordered to disperse, took a “fighting stance against the officer,” the release said.

Two people seen in the first part of the video, a 31-year-old man and a 22-year old woman, were both charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of disorderly conduct, according to the release. The 31-year-old man was also charged with unlawful possession of a weapon.

A second man, 33, seen in the end of the video has been charged with assault on a police officer, menacing, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and two counts of disorderly conduct, according to police.

Officers recovered $3,000 in cash and marijuana at the scene.

‘I think we gotta be better’

Commissioner Shea said Monday that police have seen the video in question and other videos of the incident. Referencing the video, he said “I think we gotta be better.”

Shea said there were 16 incidents over the weekend in which officers recovered a firearm. He also reminded the public that NYPD, both uniformed and plain-clothes, are involved in warning, educating, issuing summonses and arresting people who do not comply with social distancing orders.

“Most of those incidents you don’t hear about, because the arrest is made without fanfare, without use of force, thankfully without loss of life, but you know — this is just some of what we’re seeing on the street,” Shea said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio also weighed in on the video saying, “What I saw was absolutely unacceptable and obviously discipline was swift by the NYPD.”

“But I want to note that that video is more and more of a rarity. What you saw there was more and more of a rarity,” de Blasio said. “We still have work to do, unquestionably. But the progress is very clear to see. Policing is changing in this city, it has been changing.”

Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch also released a general statement Monday on social distancing enforcement.

“This situation is untenable: the NYPD needs to get cops out of the social distancing enforcement business altogether,” Lynch said.

“The cowards who run this city have given us nothing but vague guidelines and mixed messages, leaving the cops on the street corners to fend for ourselves. Nobody has a right to interfere with a police action. But now that the inevitable backlash has arrived, they are once again throwing us under the bus.”