A man who says Bridgeport police officers beat him repeatedly after they responded to a noise complaint at his sister-in-law's house during a party for his 12-year-old niece has filed a federal lawsuit against 17 defendants, including the city, police chief and mayor.

According to the 32-page lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, 46 officers swarmed the home of Wanda Mendez and Fernando Morales following the noise complaint. It says officers responded to a “distress call.” But what occurred next was a massive, unprovoked beating for plaintiff Carmelo Mendez, according to the lawsuit and Robert Berke, a Bridgeport solo practitioner representing Mendez.

“It was pretty horrible,” Berke told the Connecticut Law Tribune Tuesday. “There were a number of officers beating on him, stomping on him, punching him and kicking him all at the same time. Our claim is that, clearly, the officers were not trained properly.”

According to the Connecticut Post newspaper, 17 of the officers on the scene were accused of excessive force and lying on police reports. The paper says the city's Office of Internal Affairs found the officers violated police rules and regulations, including using excessive force on Mendez.

Berke, who is seeking $5 million for Mendez, said his client was videotaping the scene and could be heard yelling “police brutality” after allegedly witnessing a relative being arrested. About 30 people were at the party, Berke said.

“Mr. Mendez is told he can continue videotaping if he does not move and then an officer clocks him out of the blue and they all beat on him,” Berke said, adding that three videos show most of the alleged attack on his client. Mendez took video himself, as did a party guest, plus a surveillance camera from the house provided a third recording.

Mendez's lawsuit claims, “The officers collectively inflicted such a brutal beating that it left a tattoo of multiple quarter-sized marks on his head that resemble a police badge on a ring, and contusions over his body.”

“Our case is fairly strong,” Berke said. “The video is very strong evidence and it shows Mr. Mendez being beaten.”

Berke said Mendez's primary injury is to his left eye, where he had several medical procedures. “He can see, but he has blurriness issues that have not been resolved,” Berke said.

Berke said Mendez did not provoke the beating and never verbally or physically resisted arrest. He said Mendez, a veteran, was lawfully carrying a pistol at the time of the alleged attacks.

Mendez was charged with interfering with police and breach of peace. The charges were dismissed last month.

Berke said he will be filing lawsuits on behalf of the other seven people arrested, after their criminal cases are resolved. “You can't file civil action until all cases are dismissed,” Berke said.

Berke said officers can be seen on Bridgeport police video “joking about” the arrests and the incident. The lawsuit alleges one officer joked how his “hand slipped” and that it “accidentally struck someone in the face.”

A former bail bondsman, Mendez recently got his master's degree in criminal justice from the University of Bridgeport, Berke said.

Police Chief Armando Perez's office referred all comments to police representative Terron James, who declined to comment on the matter.

City Attorney R. Christopher Meyer did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday, while Rowena White, communications director for Mayor Joseph Ganim, did not respond to a request for comment.

Judge Jeffrey Meyer is scheduled to hear the case.