MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – One or more Miami Beach police officers will face charges in the rough arrests at a hotel Monday, sources exclusively tell Local 10 News.
The official filing of those charges isn’t expected until Monday, but sources say video of the incident is obvious and shows a victim following orders and being tackled by an officer.
That video is expected to be released publicly coinciding with the charges being filed.
Five officers with the Miami Beach Police Department have been relieved of duty pending the result of an internal affairs investigation.
Officers arrested Dalonta Crudup, 24, Khalid Vaughn, 28, and Sharif Cobb, 27, this past Monday at the Royal Palm Hotel, at 1545 Collins Ave., in South Beach. Crudup said the officers beat him up first and then moved to hit Vaughn and Cobb.
“I got beat up, got stitches, went to the hospital ... They beat up two dudes that was recording me that was inside the hotel, and they ain’t even do nothing wrong,” Crudup said.
Vaughn said he and Cobb were visiting from New York to attend the Rolling Loud music festival. He said they were in the lobby of the hotel when they saw a group of police officers beating up Crudup.
“I started recording it. They already got him in handcuffs. They beat him, turned around, charged me down, beat me ... punched me, elbowed me in the face,” Vaughn said. “I literally got jumped by officers.”
Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements released a statement saying he reviewed the video related to the arrests, and decided to initiate the internal investigation, and requested that the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office conduct a further review.
“I have serious concerns about the force utilized after Mr. Crudup was in custody, including the level of force utilized in the subsequent arrest of Mr. Vaughn,” Clements said. “This is not indicative of the hard-working men and women of the Miami Beach Police Department and will not be tolerated.”
The officers first accused Crudup of parking a scooter illegally on Ninth Street and Ocean Court. Crudup said he did no such thing and complied by moving the scooter. Officers said he struck an officer who was riding a bicycle while he was fleeing, but Crudup said he never struck the officer.
“Yes, I was on the scooter. But I never hit an officer or anything like that,” he said.
“Excessive force can never be an acceptable foundation for the policing of any community,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement earlier this week. “I have senior members of my staff reviewing all of the actions taken during those arrests and will follow all the evidence to its full legal conclusion.”
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber weighed in on the investigation Friday.
“We’re not hiding it. We’re not circling the wagons,” he said. “We’re doing what you would expect and hope a professional police department would do.”
Local 10 News reporter Janine Stanwood contributed information to this report.