United States Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley was arrested in Miami Beach following a confrontation with Miami Beach police officers on Thursday night. Kerley was charged with battery of a police officer and resisting an officer without violence.
According to CBS News, Miami Beach police were involved in an investigation on Ninth Street when Kerley approached them with concern about his vehicle, which was in the area. After Kerley allegedly confronted the police about his car, the exchange got more physical.
Bodycam footage from the incident shows an officer and Kerley exchanging shoves before the two-time Olympic medalist is taken to the ground by four officers. One officer can be seen punching Kerley, which the police report refers to as "multiple hammer fists" to the sprinter's body.
Eventually, an officer makes the decision to use a stun gun on Kerley. In the video, the other three officers disengage with Kerley as the fourth fires his stun gun, dropping Kerley to the ground.
Kerley was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center and Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
In the time following Kerley's arrest, police added a probable cause arrest of robbery/strongarm domestic battery that stemmed from an alleged physical incident that occurred on May 7. At the time, Kerley was accused of having a physical confrontation with his ex-wife.
Kerley's attorney, Richard L. Cooper, released a statement to CBS Miami in which he alleges the police overreacted when Kerley approached them.
"It is clear from all available recordings of the arrest (including police worn body camera) that the police overreacted to an otherwise peaceful interaction with Mr. Kerley," Cooper said.
Cooper said that the additional charges were the result of a "falsified accusation that has resurfaced because of this new media attention from last night's wrongful arrest."
Miami Beach officer Christopher Bess alleges Kerley is the one who began the physical escalation.
"Mr. Kerley battered one of our officers and pushed him in the chest, at which point the officers put their hands on him and tasered him," Bess said. "The message is very clear that when you see officers engaged in a scene give them some distance."
Kerley's girlfriend, Chleo Rahman, was also arrested for resisting an officer without violence. Rahman, a DJ known as DJ Sky High Baby, can be heard yelling at officers to stop during the altercation with Kerley.
"He was not aggressive," Rahman told CBS. "This does not give police the right to be push him and be aggressive for no reason."
Kerley represented Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which took place in 2021, and the 2024 Paris Olympics. In Tokyo, Kerley won a silver medal in the 100m sprint. He won bronze in the same event in Paris.
