HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A man said he was slammed to the ground and “getting treated like an animal” by Seminole police during his arrest early Sunday at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.
The rough arrest was caught on camera by a witness inside one of the casino’s parking garages, and another angle shows four officers forcing Smith to the ground as a fifth runs in.
“We’ve just seen George Floyd. The [officer] stuck his knee to my neck. He tased me in my neck. He tased me in my face. I was getting treated like an animal,” Kenroy Smith, the man who was being taken into custody, told Local 10 News.
Seminole police say it started as an argument over car keys. They say Smith, 29, walked away with another man’s keys and then refused to cooperate with officers.
“Officers attempted to place Smith in handcuffs to detain him when he refused to place his hands behind his back,” Seminole police said in a statement Monday, noting that they reviewed video of the incident. “Smith was taken to the ground and actively resisted officers, who deployed a Taser. Smith then placed his hands behind his back and was handcuffed. Smith was arrested, charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and booked into the Broward County Jail.”
Smith said he can still feel where he was stung by the Taser and tries to avoid touching the bruises.
“He got the taser and just stung me in my chest. Close to my heart. I could have died,” said Smith, who was staying over at the Hard Rock with his brother.
The video recorded by an onlooker shows Smith on the ground, police around him, and security looks to be trying to block off the crowd.
Smith is seen being Tased twice. The man who recorded this video is heard chiming in multiple times, asking what is going on. We also hear another woman walking by say, “He wasn’t doing anything. He’s laying on the ground.”
The man who recorded the video also spoke with Local 10 News after the incident.
“They Tased him in his face once, then they tried to make me move because I was recording,” witness Akil Grace said. “Then they Tased him again and they put their knee in his face.”