A 57-year-old grandfather from India is now partially paralyzed after a confrontation with Alabama police who stopped him in the middle of his walk because they thought he looked suspicious.

Sureshbhai Patel had only arrived in the United States days earlier after traveling from his homeland to help care for his grandson, who was recently born prematurely and suffers from several medical complications.

According to the Huntsville Times, Patel was recently walking through his son's Madison area neighborhood when he was first approached by police. Within minutes, Patel found himself "face down on the ground with a severe neck injury."

Police insist they were called to the scene with reports of a "suspicious" looking man roaming the area and peering into garages. Officers contend Patel began pulling away from them as they attempted to search him and things escalated from there.

"He was just walking on the sidewalk as he does all the time," Chirag Patel said of his father. "They put him to the ground. This is a good neighborhood. I didn't expect anything to happen."

The Washington Post reports Sureshbhai Patel insists he tried to inform officers he didn't speak much English by repeating, "No English. Indian." Patel also claims he began repeating his son's address and pointing toward the home.

"This is broad daylight, walking down the street," Patel's lawyer Hank Sherrod told the Huntsville Times. "There is nothing suspicious about Mr. Patel other than he has brown skin."

Sherrod claims officers left his client on the ground bleeding and in obvious need of medical assistance. "This is just one of those things that doesn't need to happen," he said. "That officer doesn't need to be on the streets."

Citing an internal department investigation, police have refused to name the officers involved or release any audio or video recordings of the incident. Reportedly, the officer accused of forcing Patel to the ground is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

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