A second Iraq War veteran was hospitalized following a tense confrontation between Occupy Oakland protesters and police.

Army veteran Kayvan Sabeghi, 32, was in the intensive care unit of Highland Hospital Friday, recovering from surgery for a ruptured spleen. Sabeghi said he sustained the injury at the hands of police as he was leaving an Occupy Oakland protest early Thursday morning.

When reached by The Bay Citizen on Friday, he said he was “OK, but out of it.”

Sabeghi said he did not know if the officers who assaulted him were from the Oakland Police Department or another law enforcement agency.

On Friday, police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said the department was trying to determine whether officers from the OPD or another agency had arrested Sabeghi, and who was responsible for his injuries.

“We want to know, too. Right now, investigators are going through all the reports that were turned in,” Watson said. “If it was the OPD, there will be an investigation.”

The department is already under fire for the police response to an Oct. 25 protest. Investigators are trying to determine which law enforcement agency may be responsible for injuries to Scott Olsen, an Iraq War vet who suffered a fractured skull during a confrontation between police and protesters.

According to the Iraq Veterans Against the War, Sabeghi served in Iraq and Afghanistan as an Army Ranger. He is the co-founder and co-owner of Elevation 66, an El Cerrito artisanal brewing company.

Friend and business partner Brian Kelly said Sabeghi was walking to his home in downtown Oakland, when he encountered a line of police who would not let him through.

“They told him he had to go the other way,” Kelly said Sabeghi told him. “He was right next to his house. He said, ‘Where am I supposed to go?’”

After Sabeghi demanded they let him through, Kelly said the officers beat him with batons and arrested him. Another arrestee said Sabeghi told him he stood there and "took the blows" before falling to the ground. He was charged with resisting arrest.

“I mean he’s a soldier. He’s a tough dude, but he’s got a big heart,” Kelly said. “He wasn’t one of those people out there throwing rocks through windows. It wasn’t like he was part of some big riot scene.”

Sabeghi was among the 103 demonstrators taken to jail early Thursday morning after some protesters took over an abandoned building and set fire to a barricade. According to one protester who shared a cell with Sabeghi for an hour, the veteran seemed stoic and weary, and had bruises all over his torso.

Kelly said his friend told him he was ignored when he requested medical attention in the jail. Kelly bailed Sabeghi out Thursday afternoon and drove him home. Kelly said he was not sure how his friend got to the hospital.

According to Kelly, Sabeghi was born in Sweden but grew up in Richmond and spent several years in the army. While serving in Afghanistan, he grew his beard long to take part in undercover operations.

“He’s told me some of the crazy stories that he saw there,” Kelly said. “He saw a lot of his friends get injured. He almost got blown up by a mine one time.”

When Sabeghi returned to the United States, he moved to Oakland. According to jail officials, he was arrested for drunk driving in 2008.

Sabeghi met Kelly four years ago, while working as a bartender at a Berkeley brewing company. The two decided to open up their own brewery with another friend.

They struggled for two years to raise enough money to open Elevation 66 this year. That’s part of the reason why Kelly said both he and Sabeghi had decided to participate in Occupy Oakland protests.

“We talked a lot about it. He was there, because he feels like corporate America has really held down the average person,” Kelly said. “Kayvan does not come from a wealthy background. He’s worked very hard his whole life to be where he’s at.”

Kelly said he filed a complaint on Sabeghi’s behalf with the OPD.