In Summary
Originally, five officers were charged with misdemeanor charges in August.Prosecutors said that three Miami Beach police officers are looking at felony charges in connection with the arrests of two Black men at a South Beach hotel on July 26, according to the Associated Press.
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At first, five officers were charged in August by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office on misdemeanor battery charges.
State attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced the elevated charges for the three officers. officer Kevin Perez and Sergeant Jose Perez are charged with third-degree felony battery and officer Javier Serrano is charged with official misconduct as it is a third-degree felony, according to the AP.
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Additionally, Serrano along with officers Robert Sabater and David Rivas face misdemeanor charges.
“All aspects of this July 26th police incident are taken very seriously by my prosecutors,” Rundle said in a news release. “The investigation has been and will be as thorough and complete as possible since our entire community has been shocked and offended by what we have seen.”
There was video that showed an officer going after 24-year-old Dalonta Crudup in the lobby of the Royal Palm Hotel in South Beach in the morning of July 26.
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At least a dozen officers ran into the lobby and surrounded Crudup where Sgt. Jose Perez and officer Kevin Perez kicked Crudup multiple times while he was handcuffed, the video showed
In that same surveillance video, Khalid Vaughn, 28, used his cellphone to record the incident. He was backing away and was following orders from an officer and then was tackled and punched multiple times by Sabater.