MIAMI – A Miami police officer who was relieved of duty after cellphone video showed him trying to kick a suspect in the head has been charged with assault, which is a second-degree misdemeanor, Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office spokesman Ed Griffith said in a news release.
The incident happened Thursday at the Culmer Place Apartments at 610 NW 10th St.
A resident filmed and published the video on Facebook.
The Miami Police Department identified the man arrested as David Suazo, 31, and the officer who attempted to kick him as Officer Mario Figueroa, a two-year veteran who was wearing a body camera at the time.
According to an arrest report, Suazo was in a blue 2000 Jeep Cherokee that was reported stolen in Broward County when officers ordered him to stop, and he sped away instead. Officers said Suazo crashed into a concrete wall at 835 NW 7th Ave. and took off running.
When an officer first caught up to him, Suazo took a "fighting stance" and shouted an expletive, according to the arrest report. The officer deployed his Taser, but officers said "it was ineffective" and Suazo continued to run. When police officers caught up to him again, a witness began to film.
The video shows an officer, identified as Figueroa, running into the camera's view and taking a kick at Suazo's head while the suspect was already facedown on the ground and motionless.
Suazo was taken to a hospital after complaining of chest pains and told Figueroa, "Missed trying to kick. Learn how to aim, my boy."
"If I wanted to kick you, you know I would have kicked you, right," Figueroa replied.
"Officer Mario Figueroa can have no excuse for the alleged actions seen on the initial videotape," State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. "This community demands respect for all individuals taken into custody. Any evidence of abuse, which is also evidence of a crime, will assist us in going forward with this case."
Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina released a statement after the announcement, saying the termination process has begun for Figueroa.
"The Miami Police Department would like to assure the community that it will not tolerate any transgressions against the badge its officers are meant to wear with honor, and remains committed to maintaining the highest possible standards of ethics, transparency and accountability," the statement read.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said he welcomed the decision to charge the officer. He said this is the kind of action he wants to see when evidence against an officer is clear.
Edward Lugo, president of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, said in a statement Tuesday that he believed Figueroa will be exonerated and believed the officer was being charged because of "political pressure."
File: Full statement from FOP president regarding Miami police Officer Mario Figueroa
"It is unfortunate that because of social media, Officer Figueroa has been found guilty by some in the public without the proper due process afforded to anyone accused," Lugo said. "While some have characterized this as police brutality, it couldn't be farther from the truth. The only thing brutal about this entire incident is the suspect that endangered the lives of the community in which our Miami police officers risked their lives to take this dangerous man off the streets."
Lugo went on to say that Figueroa did not violate police policy because he never actually kicked the suspect and "simply gestured to make him comply."
Suazo, whom police officers said is a habitual traffic offender, is also facing charges, including fleeing and eluding a police officer, resisting arrest, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, driving with a suspended license and grand theft of a vehicle.
