Quebec City police accused of racial profiling

Quebec City police are investigating allegations of brutality and racial profiling against members of their force following a complaint from the public.

Csar-Augusto Carrillo-Marquez, 26, said he was roughed up during an altercation last week with two officers who allegedly mocked hisLatin ethnicity.

Carrillo-Marquez was born in El Salvador but grew up in Mexico before moving to Canada.

He was making his way to a bus stop in a residential neighbourhood when a police cruiser pulled up in front of him and officers inside demanded to know his name and see his ID.

"I say my name and they laughed," he told CBC News. "They say they couldn't find [it], there was no way for them to know my family name and my first name because I had such a strange name."

The education civil servant said he refused to show identification because the officers didn't give him a good enough reason. When he changed his mind and agreed to show a licence, one of the officers said it was "too late."

"He hit me right here, and the other police officer put the handcuffs on me, and I got thrown on the street," Carrillo-Marquez said.

"I was laying down, they hit me one time with their knees. That's when I got hurt in my face," he said. He complained to the force and said he was ignored until he contacted a local newspaper about his experience.

The police force calls Carrillo-Marquez's complaint "an isolated case and exception to the rule," but has openedan internal investigation,spokesman Gino Lvesque said.

The investigation results will be made public later this fall.