Olympic Medalist Is Tased and Arrested After Becoming 'Increasingly Aggressive' with Police
A two-time Olympic medal-winning sprinter was hit with a stun gun and then arrested Thursday night in Miami Beach, Florida, after an altercation with police.
An arrest report said Fred Kerley, 29, was talking with police about his vehicle, which was near a police scene, when his “demeanor became increasingly aggressive,” according to NBC.
Kerley was “asked to leave the area,” but instead “assumed a fighting stance,” police said. After Kerley allegedly resisted arrest, “a dart-firing stun gun was effectively deployed,” police said.
Bodycam footage of the incident had been posted to YouTube.
WARNING: The following video contains some graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
The video shows an officer touching Kerley, which appeared to launch the struggle.
Kerley was charged with suspicion of battery of a police officer, disorderly conduct, and resisting an officer.
Kerley was released Friday after appearing in Miami-Dade bond court, according to WPLG-TV.
“It looks like he was beaten up pretty badly by the police, from what I read,” Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer said.
Yale Sanford, Kerley’s attorney, said the incident was “nothing more than an overreaction by the police.”
“This was a situation where he was inquiring and it turned into an action where a police officer was actively putting his hands in front of — no case that I’ve ever been involved is there, for one individual, four officers needed. Discharging a taser,” he said.
Sanford called the incident “a complete overuse of any reasonable force by officers” and “a simple misunderstanding from the beginning that was escalated by the police.”
A prosecutor at the hearing said the simple fact of Kerley, who is 6-foot-3, pushing an officer amounted to a charge of battery on a law enforcement officer.
“Well, what about what they did to him?” Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer said. “Was there any responsibility on behalf of the police?”
Glazer said she was hopeful that bodycam footage would sort out the facts.
“I don’t know what happened here, sir,” Glazer told Kerley. “But obviously your behavior was not — you were not at your best behavior here when dealing with these police officers.”
A Miami Beach police sergeant appeared remotely at the hearing and said Kerley was “pretty aggressive” while contending that the officers were justified. She confirmed that there was indeed body camera footage.
After releasing Kerley on his own recognizance, the judge added a warning.
“Sir, you’re probably smart to stay off Miami Beach. Go somewhere else to go to dinner, avoid getting in trouble, because if you get re-arrested, you’re going to be locked up in jail until your trial,” she said.
Officer Christopher Bess, a spokesperson for the Miami Beach Police Department, said that officers “attempted to de-escalate the situation multiple times.”
“However, unfortunately, the defendant escalated it by using physical force on an officer and was subsequently dealt with accordingly,” he added.
NBC noted that Kerley won a bronze medal in the 100-meter sprint at the Paris Olympics and a silver in that event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
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