MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – An Olympic medalist is facing legal trouble in South Florida after police accused him of assaulting an officer during an incident in Miami Beach late Thursday night.
Fred Kerley, a sprinter who won silver for the United States at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and bronze at the 2024 Games in Paris, is facing a felony charge and two misdemeanors in Miami-Dade County.
11 p.m. report:
The 29-year-old, whose full name is Fredrick Kerley, was born and raised in Texas and now resides in a five-bedroom home on the western edge of the Goulds area of southwest Miami-Dade, according to his arrest report. He faced a judge Friday afternoon.
According to police, the actions that landed him in a jail jumpsuit took place just before 11:25 p.m. in the 100 block of Ninth Street on South Beach.
Police said Kerley approached a police scene with an “aggressive demeanor (and) was concerned about his vehicle that was parked in the area of the scene.”
The arrest report states that officers told Kerley to “go around” the area but he continued to be aggressive, arguing with officers and eventually trying to “force” his way through two officers and grabbing the hand of an officer who put it up to “create space” between him and the athlete.
Authorities said Kerley pushed an officer, leading to a struggle with multiple cops on the ground. At one point, police said an officer “delivered multiple hammer fists” to Kerley’s head and elbowed him in the back as he resisted arrest.
The report states that after “multiple diversionary strikes to his rib cage area,” officers used a stun gun on him and were able to get him in handcuffs. Authorities said despite being in handcuffs, Kerley was able to remove one of the stun gun probes.
Police arrested him on a felony charge of battery on a law enforcement officer and misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Miami Beach police also arrested Kerley’s 32-year-old girlfriend, Cleo Jamila Rahman, on a misdemeanor resisting arrest charge.
Rahman, of Burbank, California, is a nationally-known DJ who goes by the name “DJ Sky High Baby.” The Baltimore native appeared on the reality show “Baddies.”
An arrest report states that Rahman was screaming, “That’s my boyfriend! That’s my boyfriend!” and “continue(d) yelling and causing a scene trying to pass through the officer barricade” amid the arrest, causing officers to “divert their attention from assisting the officers to deal with her.”
It states that she resisted two officers who tried to grab her to place her under arrest.
Decorated athlete appears in court
Kerley appeared in Miami-Dade bond court Friday afternoon.
During a somewhat contentious hearing, defense attorney Yale Sanford appeared at his side, out of frame in the courtroom video feed, arguing that there was no probable cause for a charge of disorderly conduct. He also criticized the actions of officers at the scene.
“This seems like a total misunderstanding,” Sanford said. “Mr. Kerley is a record-breaking athlete. He has served in the Olympics for the United States track and field (team). He is a model citizen in our community. This is nothing more than an overreaction by the police.”
Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer appeared to agree after reading the arrest report.
“It looks like he was beaten up pretty badly by the police, from what I read,” she said.
“That’s our contention,” Sanford said. “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.”
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.”
“And here we are, my client is sitting, here, an Olympic athlete, and here he’s spending the night in jail and this could have all been avoided if officers were able to have a reasonable conversation,” he said.
The prosecutor responded, “He’s a big guy, so I understand why (multiple) officers may have been needed to get him in custody.”
Prosecutors explained that the 6-foot-3 Kerley pushing an officer justified a charge of battery on a law enforcement officer.
“Well, what about what they did to him?” Glazer retorted. “Was there any responsibility on behalf of the police?” She added, “Hopefully there’s video and body cam that will show what happened.”
“I don’t know what happened here, sir,” Glazer said to 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 then appeared remotely, calling Kerley “pretty aggressive” while justifying the charges and officers’ actions. She indicated that there was body camera video of the incident.
“Sergeant, this could have been handled a different way,” Glazer said. “And I don’t know if the officers in Miami Beach are busy handling a lot of complicated crime scenes there, but I have a gentleman who’s never been arrested, there’s no prior arrests, who his attorney’s saying has competed in the Olympics, who is obviously a professional athlete and it’s unfortunate that he got to this position.”
Glazer, finding probable cause for the counts of battery on an officer and resisting arrest — but not disorderly conduct — ordered that Kerley be released on his own recognizance.
“Sir, you’re probably smart to stay off Miami Beach,” Glazer warned Kerley. “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.”
Body camera footage released; union, attorney react
Miami Beach police later released body camera video showing the altercation.
6 p.m. Friday report:
A spokesperson for the Miami Beach Police Department defended the actions of the agency’s officers.
“Our officers attempted to de-escalate the situation multiple times,” Officer Christopher Bess said. “However, unfortunately, the defendant escalated it by using physical force on an officer and was subsequently dealt with accordingly.”
The union representing MBPD officers also issued a statement following the release of the footage, criticizing Glazer.
“I am very disappointed that Judge Mindy Glazer did not look at our officer’s body worn cameras before she acted more like a defense attorney at the bond hearing than an unbiased judge,” Fraternal Order of Police President Bobby Hernandez said. “She must have also not been aware that as she was sympathizing with him and his defense attorney that this ‘model citizen’ was wanted for domestic violence involving strangulation and robbery.”
Hernandez is referencing a May 2024 case for which Kerley is slated to appear in bond court again on Saturday. Details about that case weren’t immediately available as of Friday evening.
“Defendant Fred Kerley (sic) had an opportunity to comply, and he decided to violently resist,” Hernandez said. “Bad decisions lead to bad consequences.”
Sanford released a statement on his client’s behalf following the video release, in part calling the footage “obscene.”
“It just goes to show that no matter how hard you work, how many medals you earn for your country, and how many people across the globe you inspire, in Miami Beach, Mr. Kerley was treated like millions of African-Americans, male and female, around the country…with a lack of humanity, compassion, or respect,” Sanford said. “It’s important for our community to be aware of these actions by police so we can make sure this type of behavior is prevented in the future.”
Sanford told Local 10 News Saturday that Kerley will be appearing in bond court again on Saturday morning for a separate incident that involved his wife earlier this year. He cannot post bond until after that hearing.