The police ticketed a man for smoking a cigarette on a Mission Beach boardwalk Saturday in San Diego; the man recorded this event on his cellphone, and he was allegedly smacked around by the police for doing just that.

The man in question is Adam Pringle, who was simply smoking a cigarette in the wrong place. Two police officers proceeded to write him a ticket for breaking the law. However, for some strange reason, Adam Pringle began recording the officers while his ticket was being written, and he refused to stop the recording upon the request of one of the police officers at the scene.

According to Adam Pringle in a statement to Photography is Not a Crime, "Blood was everywhere, I was laying on my stomach and he had one knee on my back and the other knee on the side of my face."

"They kept telling me 'to calm down,' that 'you're making this worse for yourself,' that 'you have no right to record us.' "

According to California law, individuals need the consent of others before recording via a cellphone or any other type of video recording device. However, this does not apply in a public setting.

Pringle did break the law by smoking a cigarette on the boardwalk, and he was being cited for that, but should he have been treated with such violence?

The police officer claimed the mobile phone could be used as a weapon, and that if Pringle had handed over his phone to confirm it was not a weapon, his arrest would not have happened. The officer did not treat Pringle's friend in the same way when he picked up the handset and continued recording.