Mounties in Cumberland are coming under fire after video surfaced on social media of an officer forcibly restraining a 14-year-old cyclist.

Witnesses say the altercation was sparked when the teenage boy was stopped for not wearing a bike helmet and for riding on the sidewalk.

Marsha Herd, who manages a bar near where the Saturday incident happened, said she heard loud yelling from the street and that’s when she went outside to investigate.

“It was brutal,” she said. “The cop had him around the throat like this. He was tripping him, he was on top of him, he was crushing the kid’s head into the ground. It was almost like the cop was taking him down for a drug bust.”

Videos taken by bystanders appear to show the officer pinning the teen to the ground when he is confronted by several witnesses who call on him to release the boy.

The videos do not show how the incident was sparked.

“A lot of people were saying he was being disrespectful, he should’ve just told the cop his name which, okay maybe he should’ve,” said Herd. “But was that amount of force necessary?”

That included a prominent hairdresser who tried to come to the teen’s rescue – and ended up being charged with obstructing police.

“She’s an icon, she’s a pillar of the community and I’m very upset that she’s being charged,” said Tim Rooney, a friend of Cameron’s. “The video clearly shows that there is no obstruction. She was trying to protect one of our children.”

The officer eventually called for backup and six more vehicles arrived.

Rooney said he collected three bystander videos of the incident, which he has sent to RCMP for investigation.

Comox Valley RCMP have issued a statement in response, saying the videos do not tell the whole story.

“The video does not show the officer conducting a legal stop, nor does it show the male allegedly refuse to identify himself and become verbally abusive with the officer,” they said. “Situations like this can be very challenging for an officer who is alone among a group of arguably volatile people.”

Rooney believes the officer needs to be reprimanded by the force and owes the teen, the community and especially Cameron an apology.

The matter is expected to get underway before the courts on March 24.

RCMP's full response: