A viral video showing a Baltimore sergeant getting kicked by a group of onlookers while trying to make an arrest has been denounced as “appalling” as the city struggles to curb crime, reports say.

The violent encounter unfolded just before midnight late Friday night when the Baltimore cop, identified only as Sgt. Simpson, attempted to arrest a man who allegedly spat in the officer’s face, according to CBS’s 13 WJZ.

The video, which has since taken off online, appears to start after the initial encounter with the officer straddling the man trying to cuff him.

A group of bystanders can be seen surrounding the officer and some of them kick the cop — while another tries to free the man, according to the video.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Commissioner Michael Harrison said, “I am outraged, as any resident of Baltimore should be, by this incident. We cannot, and will not, allow any member of the public, or one of our officers, to be assaulted. We are now working to identify everybody involved and, when we do, they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The city’s police union used the incident to criticize the mayor’s administration for having “absolutely no real-time crime plan.”

Baltimore has struggled to contain its record-breaking violence after only being able to close less than a third of homicides in 2019, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Mayor Bernard C. Young hit back at union heads saying, “maybe they should come out of their offices instead of sitting behind a desk,” and that he thinks the city’s plan is working, according to the CBS affiliate.