MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The woman at the center of a rough arrest that partially led to a Miami Gardens police officer being fired from the force and facing charges is speaking out about the incident.
“I can’t watch,” Safiya Satchell said, referring to video of the incident that occurred in January outside Tootsie’s Cabaret. “I was scared for my life, and at the point he was tasing me, I didn’t know if I was being shot or tased.”
The 30-year-old officer confronted Satchell, 33, that night to give her a trespassing warning, but ended up pulling her out of her own car.
He has since been fired from the Miami Gardens Police Department after another incident came to light regarding the beating of a man at a gas station.
Jordy Yanes Martel, who was on the force for just two years, was arrested last week on charges of official misconduct tied to the incident involving Satchell.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said that Yanes Martel had “no legal authority to detain the victim,” and said that he forcibly removed her from her vehicle, and that once he took the victim to the ground, he knelt on her neck.
Martel has since bonded out of jail.
“I’m relieved, I’m glad he was fired. I want him to experience everything I went through, the nightmare that I’m going through, and I just want justice to be served,” Satchell said.
The cellphone video recorded by Satchell’s friend and video from the officer’s own body-worn camera helped the Miami-Dade County state attorney file the charges against the now former cop.
Satchell’s attorney believes its proof that not all officers are there to serve and protect.
“Half the title is to serve, right? Police need to be reminded that they need to serve this community,” Jonathan Jordan said. “Did this officer get the proper training? Absolutely not.”
Charges against Satchell have since been dropped.