ST. LOUIS • A man from Wentzville, backed by surveillance video, has filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court here against the Bridgeton police, alleging that he was unfairly beaten and shot with a Taser by officers in the town's jail.

The video is not clear enough to support all of the allegations in the lawsuit. But it does seem to contradict a Bridgeton police report.

The FBI is believed to be investigating the circumstances.

The lawsuit was filed April 12 in U.S. District Court by Philip Billingham, 26, against Bridgeton Officer Bradley Cash and five unidentified officers.

Tim Engelmeyer, one of the lawyers representing Billingham, said his client suffered bruises and a swollen jaw, and arrived at his office with 10 metal staples "across his skull" and Taser marks on his back.

The suit alleges civil rights violations, assault and battery and failure to render aid, and seeks $25,000 compensatory and $25,000 punitive damages for each of its four counts.

Bridgeton police Chief Donald Hood declined to comment on the suit or the video. Cash could not be reached for comment.

Engelmeyer said that Billingham remembers only "bits and pieces" of the events of April 18, 2009.

Billingham was driving north on Lindbergh Boulevard that rainy evening when he missed a turn and the Pontiac Grand Am he was driving plowed through a fence onto the grounds of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

Witnesses said Billingham was speeding and never slowed to make the turn. Officers would later write that he was slurring his words, smelled of alcohol and was "uncooperative" and "vulgar."

At the police station, Cash wrote in the report, Billingham refused to give his Social Security and telephone numbers, and Cash told him that he would be held until he was more cooperative.

Cash wrote that Billingham crossed his arms and leaned back against his cell wall. He also wrote that he entered Billingham's cell, took him by the arm and tried to move him when Billingham pushed his arm away. The two began grappling, and Billingham eventually fell into the cell door.

The video, however, shows Billingham sitting with his head hanging when two officers move to the cell. One grabs Billingham by the shirt collar, pulls him forward and then back into the wall. He then pushes Billingham back into the wall again.

The other officer then enters the cell, blocking the camera's view.

At the end of the encounter, the first officer can be seen pulling Billingham forward and into the cell door, and then onto the floor before dragging him away by his T-shirt. Billingham, who starts on his side but gets to his hands and knees while being dragged, leaves several marks on the floor of what appear to be smears of blood.

Other cameras show Billingham being dragged down a hall and Tasered in front of another cell before being placed in his own cell, where he uses his shirt to mop blood off his face.

The police report says Billingham tripped Cash and was Tasered in the back during the trip to the cell.

Cash wrote that he noticed a blood trail, then realized that Billingham was bleeding from the right side of his forehead and called an ambulance.

The suit claims Bridgeton police did not have the authority to arrest Billingham on airport property. It also alleges that Cash choked and beat Billingham before throwing him into the cell door latch.

Engelmeyer said that the video, which he filed as an exhibit accompanying the suit, was not edited by him in any way and was exactly as he received it.

A witness to the crash told the Post-Dispatch that he was contacted months ago by an FBI agent. An FBI representative said that the agency was "aware of the situation" but could not confirm or deny an investigation.

Engelmeyer acknowledged in a phone interview that Billingham "should not have been driving" and "fessed up to it."

Billingham pled guilty to a DWI offense and was placed on probation and ordered to pay fines and take classes, Engelmeyer said. Charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a law enforcement officer were dropped.

Engelmeyer complained that police violated their duty to protect someone in their custody. he said, "Whether it's a good guy or a bad guy, your duty is to protect."