Investigation launched after video shows rough arrest by Doral police officer

Man threatens lawsuit, says Doral officer broke his leg during rough arrest

DORAL, Fla. – A rough arrest by a Doral police officer left a man with a broken leg, and according to that man, a reason to sue. 

The confrontation between the man and two Doral police officers was captured on camera. 

In the video, Officer Travis Cooper is seen drawing his gun. 

The driver, 31-year-old Craig Nembhard, is forced out of the car and slammed to the ground. 

Nembhard can be heard in the video scream from pain, caused by a broken leg, he said. 

Nembhard's attorney, David Kubiliun, spoke to Local 10 News by phone. 

"It's a good thing that there was video in this case," Kubiliun said. 

According to Kubiliun, the police report doesn't match the body camera video. 

Police say the driver "directed his vehicle towards OFC. Cooper which created a well-founded fear that the defendant, who was agitated and angry, was about to thrust his vehicle at OFC. Cooper."

"As you can see in the video, that was completely not the case," Kubiliun said. "It was completely the opposite."

Nembhard was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on law enforcement and resisting arrest without violence. 

State prosecutors said they could not prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt after reviewing video footage from the body cameras and surveillance video from a nearby gas station. 

Kubiliun said he plans to file a civil rights lawsuit. 

Doral police are aware of the allegations. A spokesperson told Local 10 News the department has started its own investigation, but had nothing else to add. 


About the Author

In January 2017, Hatzel Vela became the first local television journalist in the country to move to Cuba and cover the island from the inside. During his time living and working in Cuba, he covered some of the most significant stories in a post-Fidel Castro Cuba. 

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