ATLANTA — A video taken at a local IHOP restaurant has been getting a lot of attention. The video shows a police officer punching a female patron during an altercation.

The officer, Jose Vidal, has been assigned to desk duty while the case is investigated. However, one witness has come out to defend the officer’s actions, calling them justified.

Tanika Hudson, a witness and IHOP employee, says the woman was in the wrong.

Ashley Leavell, the women who hit and was hit, now faces criminal charges.

Hudson states that if the patrons had just left when the officer told them to, none of this would have happened.

He was not wrong. He was in the right. I think the woman should be prosecuted. You do not lay hands on an officer whose just trying to do his job,” added Hudson.