Star United States sprinter Fred Kerley was arrested in Miami Beach for alleged battery on a law enforcement officer and other charges in an incident that was captured in police body camera footage.
In addition to the battery charge, Kerley, 29, was booked into jail early Friday on charges of resisting an officer without violence and disorderly conduct.
Miami Beach Police officials said officers were investigating an incident in the 100 block of 9th Street late Thursday night when Kerley approached the scene, expressing concerns about his vehicle, which was parked nearby.
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Kerley's "demeanor became increasingly aggressive" and he was asked to leave the area but he refused, police said.
Police said Kerley took a "fighting stance" and refused to obey officers' commands, so they used a stun gun on him to take him into custody.
Police body camera footage released Friday doesn't show the beginning of the encounter but shows Kerley, in a grey patterned hoodie, speaking with multiple officers as another officer approaches.
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The officer places a hand on Kerley's chest and a struggle ensues as multiple officers wrestle him to the ground, the video shows.
The video then shows an officer hitting Kerley multiple times as he continues to struggle and a woman, believed to be Kerley's girlfriend, screams at the officers.
"Stop! Stop!" the woman repeatedly yells. "He's an athlete, please do not mess with him!"
The officers are heard telling Kerley to stop resisting for several moments before one officer says "I'm gonna Tase him" and the others back away.
The officer deploys the Taser on Kerley, who falls to the ground and is handcuffed as the woman continues yelling.
"Stop! Stop! Get the f------ Taser off of him!" she yells. "Stop! Stop! Stop! He didn't do anything!"
After several more moments, Kerley is heard speaking with the officers.
"Y'all weak … you're weak," he says. "You put your hands on me, hit me in the head."
Kerley's girlfriend was also arrested for resisting an officer without violence.
"We were simply just trying to get to the car, we weren't trying to obstruct justice or anything like that," DJ Sky High Baby, Kerley's girlfriend, told NBC6. "It's just crazy to the extent that it (took) four police officers to try to detain him."
Attorneys for Kerley argued in front of a judge Friday that police overreacted and asked he be released without setting a bond.
"No case that I’ve been involved in is there for one individual, four officers needed and discharging of a Taser. This is a complete overuse of any reasonable force by officers and it was a simple misunderstanding from the beginning that was escalated by the police," attorneys said.
Kerley was set to be released from jail on his own recognizance, but prosecutors at the last minute filed charges of strong-arm robbery and domestic battery by strangulation from a separate incident back in May, where he allegedly got violent with his then-wife and took her phone.
Kerley was flagged in the system notifying Miami Police that he was in custody leading to the new charges in the case from the summer.
On the incident in Miami Beach, Bobby Hernandez, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he was "disappointed" in the judge's decision to release him.
"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," he 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. Defendant Fred Kerly had an opportunity to comply, and he decided to violently resist. Bad decisions lead to bad consequences."
Kerley won bronze in the 100m race at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and won silver in the event in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
