COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — Two men stand accused on Friday of battery on a 42-year-old man — while they worked as guards and the victim was a detainee, at Alligator Alcatraz — a former immigration law enforcement detention center in the Florida Everglades.
Collier County prosecutors’ cases against Stephen Trejos and Andre Seenaraine remained pending. They were accused of the Jan. 25 battery against Rigoberto Rodriguez, a Cuban who U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained on Dec. 9.
Frank Rivera, a witness, told WINK News that he and Rodriguez were part of a group of dozens of detainees who were banging their handcuffs on a bench after waiting since 6 a.m. without access to food or water.
Trejos, 25, “picked him up, slammed him, and then started hitting him,” Rivera said, according to WINK Reporter Olivia Jean’s report published on July 1.
Attorney Yaritssa Plasencia, who represented Rodriguez, told WINK that the case surfaced after Rodriguez arrived wearing a blood-stained uniform, with bandages on his hand, and with a black eye on Jan. 25 at El Paso Camp East Montana, in Texas.
In a motion, Trejos’s attorney alleged surveillance video showed Rodriguez delivering a “compliance strike” after Rodriguez spat on him. Rivera also told WINK that detainees yelled at Trejos to stop, and Seenaraine, 30, later punched Rodriguez in another room.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the cases. Collier County Circuit Judge Crystal K. Kinzel signed warrants for their arrest on June 24.
Collier County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Trejos on June 24. Trejos was released on a $1,000 bond on June 25. Seenaraine was also released on a $1,000 bond on June 27.
Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Seenaraine on June 26 in Ocala, records show. The Tampa Bay Times reported deputies listed Seenaraine’s employer as Critical Response Strategies, one of Florida’s contractors at Alligator Alley.
Trejos and Seenaraine each faced a charge of first-degree misdemeanor battery and pleaded not guilty.
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