Fred Kerley, a two-time Olympic medalist sprinter for the United States and one of the fastest runners in the world, was arrested late Thursday night in Miami Beach, Fla., after an altercation with the police in South Beach, a gathering place for tourists that is known for its nightlife.
Mr. Kerley, who won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games in the men’s 100-meter dash and a bronze in the same event at the 2024 Paris Games, was charged with battery of a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct after arguing and then scuffling with officers just off the area’s main thoroughfare, Ocean Drive. The battery charge, a felony, carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Mr. Kerley, who is 29 and from Taylor, Texas, also faces two other felony charges, for robbery and domestic violence in an unrelated case from last May. The police said they had been looking for him in connection with that matter. Those charges include allegations that he choked his wife and stole her phone.
Yale M. Sanford, a lawyer representing Mr. Kerley in this week’s arrest, said the police were in the wrong because a simple conversation with Mr. Kerley could have de-escalated the situation.
“It’s an overstep and, you can even say, an unreasonable use of force that could have been avoided,” Mr. Sanford said.
Richard L. Cooper, a lawyer representing Mr. Kerley in the domestic violence case, said those charges were “completely unsubstantiated,” and that it was his understanding that the case was not being pursued. The charges had been presented unexpectedly by the authorities after the altercation with the police in South Beach, he said. Mr. Kerley and his wife are separated and are seeking a divorce, the lawyer said.
The police defended their actions, saying that Mr. Kerley had interfered with an active crime scene at a tense time in the country, when police in Miami Beach were on high alert in the days after a van rammed a crowd in New Orleans, killing 14 people, and a Cybertruck exploded outside a Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, killing one.
On Thursday night, officers were investigating a man who had parked a car in a spot reserved for emergency vehicles near Ocean Drive, said Officer Christopher Bess, a spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department. Mr. Kerley diverted their attention, Officer Bess said.
“We just saw an aggressive male impeding the crime scene,” Officer Bess said of Mr. Kerley.
While the police were dealing with the man who parked in the emergency area, Mr. Kerley approached the police, saying he was concerned about his own car, which was parked nearby, according to Officer Bess and an arrest affidavit. The police described Mr. Kerley as having “an aggressive demeanor,” the affidavit said.
One officer’s body camera video shows shaky glimpses of a chaotic altercation, which appeared to escalate when an officer used his arm to block Mr. Kerley from approaching, and Mr. Kerley batted it away. Several officers then wrestled Mr. Kerley to the ground and tried to handcuff him while he repeatedly attempted to climb to his feet, according to the video and police documents.
One officer “delivered multiple hammer fists toward the defendant’s upper head area and several elbows toward his upper back area,” according to the arrest affidavit, and the police body camera shows officers striking Mr. Kerley as they try to subdue him.
A girlfriend of Mr. Kerley appears in the background of the police video, holding up her phone to videotape while repeatedly calling out, “Stop! Stop!” At one point, she says, “He’s an athlete, please do not mess with him.” Later, she refers to him as a “U.S.A. athlete” and says, “Stop, he didn’t doing anything.”
Just over a minute into the struggle, several police officers step away from Mr. Kerley, letting him rise to his feet before using a stun gun on him, the video shows. He then collapses onto the street.
On the body camera video, Mr. Kerley can be heard saying, “I’m not resisting, get off me,” and “Get off my legs. I need my legs.”
Several times he called the officers weak and cursed at them. He also said they were going to jail for putting their hands on him.
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