Three New Orleans police officers are facing charges after a violent arrest and a confrontation with a journalist outside a bar Saturday night. The incident was captured on videotape.

It shows at least one officer repeatedly punching a 64-year-old man who was accused of public intoxication. Another officer is then seen shoving a producer for Associated Press Television News.

On the tape, the suspect appears to be resisting, as an officer hits him at least four times in the head. Another officer then strikes the man with his knee and punches him twice. The suspect, Robert Davis, was face down on the sidewalk, with blood pouring out of his arm.

An officer ordered a nearby television crew to stop recording and when the producer held up his credentials, the officer grabbed him, leaned him backward over a car, and jabbed him in the stomach. The officer unleashed a tirade filled with profanities, and told the reporter to "go home."

A spokesman for the New Orleans Police Department says the three officers involved in the dispute will be suspended immediately and the subjects of an immediate criminal investigation.

This incident comes as the New Orleans police continue to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which flooded the city and reduced it to a state of lawlessness for weeks.