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Two-time Olympic medallist Fred Kerley was arrested by the South Florida police after he was caught with a stun gun. According to media reports in the USA, Kerley was charged with battery, resisting an officer as well as his disorderly conduct. As per a USA Today report, the Miami Beach Police Department released body-worn camera footage of the arrest. It showed Kerley engaging in an argument with the police officers. Notably, the 29-year-old won a bronze medal in the men’s 100-meter race at Paris Olympics 2024.
The incident started with Kerley parking his vehicle between Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive. Later on, Police officers showed concerns about his vehicle, which was parked nearby at a crime scene. While the police officers showed disagreement towards Kerley, the athlete became more aggressive and refused to get away from the place. Not only this, but he also had a heated argument and ignored the lawful commands and took a fighting stance in front of officers. The body-cam footage showed one officer saying, “Stop resisting!” The athlete responded by saying, “I’m not resisting, get off of me, bro.” The athlete was released on Friday afternoon.
A complete overuse of any reasonable force by officers: Judge Mindy Glazer
At the bond hearing, one of Kerley’s attorneys, Yale Sanford called the situation a misunderstanding. He also called it “a complete overuse of any reasonable force by officers,” to which judge Mindy Glazer reportedly agreed. According to WPLG, “Glazer told a Miami Beach police officer during the hearing, "Sergeant, this could have been handled a different way.”
He added, "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."
