Viral video shows police officer punching tackled teenager in the face following traffic stop

An Illinois teenager was hospitalized this week after a video showed him being beaten by police officers.

The officers maintain the boy was armed with an unlawfully obtained semi-automatic handgun. The video shows him being punched in the face after already being tackled to the ground.

A video circulating on social media Wednesday shows a group of officers after they tackled the teenage boy, who is repeatedly struck by punches. One officer can be seen punching the boy in the head.

In a Facebook post, Karam Ots identified the victim as his cousin. The officers were said to be part of the Oak Lawn Police Department.

Ots said his cousin was "tackled by the cops who claim he was reaching in his bag when [he's] TRYING to cover his face as he was getting punched over and over."

"Then he gets dragged to the cop car almost unconscious [he's] screaming in pain for 5 mins until they bring the ambulance," Ots added, "and he gets transferred to Christ Hospital and then handcuffed to the bed as [he's] leaking for over 30 mins he [wasn't] seen or checked on."

Oak Lawn, Illinois police said the teen had fled a traffic stop and issued a statement acknowledging officers got into a "physical confrontation" with the subject after he refused to obey officers' commands. They said the subject and another officer was transported to a local hospital for treatment of injuries.

In the statement, police averred that the subject "was armed at the time, unlawfully, with a semiautomatic handgun during the incident."

Oak Lawn Police department said that its investigation is ongoing.

With David Edwards.