CUTLER BAY, Fla. – Joaquin Labaut was speaking to himself loudly, flailing his arms and pacing back and forth at a fast-food restaurant in Cutler Bay, police said Thursday. When he refused to surrender, officers had to deploy their Taser guns four times to take him down, according to a police report.
It took six officers to arrest the 35-year-old man who police said also punched walls and shouted expletives.
The officers -- who were wearing body cameras -- confronted Labaut on Wednesday inside the Wendy's restaurant at 20975 S. Dixie Highway, across from the Southland Mall in Cutler Bay, according to the police report.
After one of the officers deployed a Taser gun, Labaut walked into the restaurant's kitchen, where another officer also deployed a Taser gun, but neither of them appeared to have had an effect on him.
Labaut pushed Wendy's employees and refused to move from the drive-thru window area, police said.
Video obtained by the Miami Herald shows a Wendy's employee shouting in terror, as a police officer used a baton to hit him in the legs -- while shouting "get on the floor" -- at least a dozen times. Labaut refused to surrender.
Labaut pushed one officer and pushed a cart to strike the other officer, police said. He took off running, tripped on a table, got up, and when he tried to run again, two other officers also deployed their Taser guns, according to the police report.
Officers were finally able to arrest Labaut and take him to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He faces charges of disorderly conduct, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, battery and resisting an officer without violence.
