Fred Kerley was arrested in Miami Beach on Thursday night following an alleged confrontation with police officers.
According to police, Kerley, 29, approached the scene of an active investigation at the 100 block of 9th Street and questioned officers about his car parked nearby.
A published report from NBC 6 South Florida said that Kerley’s “demeanor became increasingly aggressive” based on a police statement and he refused to leave the area.
The report also claims that Kerley assumed a “fighting stance” and police used a stun gun to arrest him and take him into custody after backup officers arrived.
In a video circulated on social media, Kerley was placed on the ground in a seated position during the incident. Several officers were visible around him as he was stood up and led to a police vehicle.
Initial footage from an officer’s body camera was released Friday afternoon and the 27-second clip shows multiple officers physically engaged with Kerley as a woman, Kerley’s girlfriend Cleo Jamila Rahman, repeatedly shouts “stop” and “he didn’t do anything.” Kerley is seen falling to the ground when an officer deployed a stun gun.,
A longer 6 minute and 20 second version of the police body camera footage at the beginning of the incident shows an officer place a hand on Kerley’s chest — and Kerley nudges the hand away. Additional officers tacked Kerley, the stun gun was used and he was handcuffed. An officer then orders a bystander to back away from the scene as Kerley said he was “not resisting” and yelled out for officers to get away from his Rahman.
Rahman, 32, was also arrested by Miami Beach police on a misdemeanor resisting arrest charge.
Kerley was booked at 4:07 a.m. Eastern time on Friday morning and charged with battery, resisting an officer without violence and disorderly conduct.
At a bond hearing on Friday afternoon in front of Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer the atmosphere appeared to be tense as Kerley’s attorney Yale Sanford disputed the nature of the charges.
“This seems like a total misunderstanding,” Sanford said via a courtroom video feed. “Mr. Kerley is a record-breaking athlete. He has served in the Olympics for the United States track and field (organization). He is a model citizen in our community. This is nothing more than an overreaction by the police.”
Glazer seemed to agree that Kerley’s appearance at the hearing warrant some criticism of the police officers handling of the incident.
“Well, what about what they did to him?” Glazer said. “Was there any responsibility on behalf of the police?”
“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.”
Shortly after, a Miami Beach police sergeant then appeared on a separate video feed, and said Kerley “pretty aggressive” and that body camera footage would support the prosector’s account of the incident.
Kerley competed for Team USA in the Paris Olympics last August and won bronze in the men’s 100m final. He was part of the men’s 4x100m relay team that failed to win a medal at the Games after finishing seventh and later was disqualified for running out of the zone during the baton handoff.
Still, Kerley has been a standout on the track and his 43.64s personal best in the 400m places him tenth all-time, while his 9.76s time in the 100m puts him at sixth fastest in history.
He won silver in the men’s 100m final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
