NYPD officer caught on tape smashing alleged fare beater in head with baton

A brutal video catches an NYPD officer bash an alleged fare beater in the head with a baton, opening a gash in the man’s head and sending him stumbling around the Brooklyn subway station in a daze.

Blood spurted from Donovan Lawson's cut and sprayed witnesses and the walls at the Myrtle Avenue J, M, Z stop during the arrest Thursday just before 8 p.m., Marielle Anas told the Daily News.

“It was one of the most awful things I’ve ever seen,” Anas, 28, said. “I have blood all over my jeans. The brutality of the nightstick – it was crazy. It looked like his head exploded. I couldn’t believe I was seeing it happen.”

Lawson, 20, had “doubled up” with a pal, going through the turnstile together on a single swipe, cops said. He was sitting on a wooden bench when an officer threw at least three punches, Anas said.

“The kid wasn’t doing anything – that’s why I started recording,” Anas said. “If he can't subdue this kid – he wasn’t even resisting that much!”