• Loading stock data...
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Nominations Are Open for Front Office Sports Honors! Submit Now

Video Shows Miami Beach Police Striking, Tasing Olympic Sprinter Fred Kerley

A local judge admonished police in court Friday.

Fred Kerley
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Team USA sprinter Fred Kerley was arrested in Miami Beach on Thursday night, in a scene partially captured by body camera footage. Kerley was struck with “multiple hammer fists” and tased before being taken into custody, the police report and footage show.

Kerley approached the area of an active police investigation because he was concerned about his car being parked nearby, police say. The report claims Kerley approached the officers with “an aggressive demeanor” and went into a “fighting stance.”

Kerley was charged with three offenses and jailed Thursday. Miami-Dade judge Mindy Glazer found officers did not have probable cause for disorderly conduct, but did for the other two: battery of a law enforcement officer (a felony) and resisting an officer without violence (a misdemeanor).

Though Kerley was technically released on his own recognizance for the incident with police, he remained in a Miami jail after the hearing. Police added charges from a nearly year-old case on Friday, claiming they were not able to locate him in May 2024. (Kerley competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials the next month, and the Olympics later that summer.)

The new charges against Kerley were serious felonies: strongarm robbery, domestic violence, and domestic violence by strangulation. 

During Friday’s hearing for the incident with police the night before, Glazer, the local judge, admonished Miami Beach police. 

“Sergeant, this could have been handled a different way,” Glazer said, according to Local 10 News. “And I don’t know if the officers in Miami Beach are busy handling a lot of complicated crime scenes there, but I have a gentleman who’s never been arrested, there’s no prior arrests, who his attorney’s saying has competed in the Olympics, who is obviously a professional athlete and it’s unfortunate that he got to this position.”

Kerley was being represented in court by local attorney Yale Sanford. Kerley’s agent did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

“ The video footage, it’s obscene,” Sanford tells FOS. “It just goes to show that no matter how hard you work, how many medals you earn for your country, how many millions of people you inspire, last night in Miami Beach, my client was treated like millions of African Americans around this country—with a lack of humanity, compassion, or respect.”

Sanford also tells FOS that Glazer’s reaction in bond court was noteworthy. “For a judge to come out this early, and I don’t want to speak for her, but it does shine a light on the seriousness of police misconduct and the use of force.”

Bodycam footage shows the incident quickly escalating. When the footage—released to FOS and other outlets under Florida law—begins, Kerley approaches an officer, who pushes him away with one hand. Kerley pushes the hand away, and the officer shoves him back. Kerley aggressively approaches the officers before the footage blacks out; then Kerley is seen on the ground, where several officers are striking him repeatedly.

Kerley’s girlfriend, Cleo Rahman, can be heard in the background telling police to stop. “He’s an athlete; please do not mess with him,” she said. “He’s a Team USA athlete; he’s Team USA.”

Footage from several angles—the officers’ body cameras plus observers recording for social media—show the officers beating and tasing Kerley while Rahman continuously pleads for the officers to stop. (The police report says she was telling her boyfriend to stop, not officers.) The police report says one officer, Alexander Pichs-Picado, “delivered multiple hammer fists toward the defendant’s upper head area and several elbows toward his upper back area,” before he later “delivered multiple diversionary strikes toward his rib cage area which were unsuccessful.” That same officer is the one who used the taser gun.

After being tased and placed in handcuffs, while still on the ground, Kerley insisted he was not resisting, repeatedly called officers “weak,” and told them they would go to jail.

Rahman was also arrested, facing one charge of resisting without violence. (A brand-new Florida law that went into effect Jan. 1 makes it illegal to come within 25 feet of first responders.)

The arrest affidavit in the domestic violence case says Kerley choked a woman with whom he had three children amid a “verbal dispute.” According to the report, Kerley and the woman were arguing about her contacting someone on Instagram when she hit him in the face, and he responded by shoving her to the ground and choking her.

The report says Miami-Dade police realized Kerley was being held in Miami Beach jail Friday, and subsequently filed their charges.

Another lawyer for Kerley told CBS News Miami that the domestic violence charges were “stemming from a falsified accusation that has resurfaced because of this new media attention from last night’s wrongful arrest.”

The lawyer, Richard L. Cooper, called Miami Beach a “brutal police state.” 

Most of the officers involved in Thursday’s incident were not veterans in the Miami Beach police department. Two of the four officers listed in the police report, Luis Lumpuy and Pichs-Picado—who struck and tased Kerley—were sworn in in December 2021. Brandon Vicens was sworn in in July 2023. None of the four officers appeared in Florida’s database of disciplined law enforcement officers that dates back to 2012.

At the last two Olympics, the 29-year-old Kerley earned a bronze medal in the 100 meters in Paris and a silver medal in the same event in Tokyo. In 2022, he won gold in the 100 meters at the World Championships with a time of 9.86 seconds, one of the fastest ever recorded. He also medaled four times at the World Championships in 2017, 2019, and 2023, which included two 4X400-meter golds.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Flau'Jae Johnson

Flau’jae Johnson Picks LSU Over WNBA Draft

The LSU star and rapper will stay another year in school.
Dawn Staley

Women’s March Madness Has a Portal Problem. Can GMs Solve It?

Final Four coaches are calling agents and players between practices.

Featured Today

Dec 27, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (71) skates during warm ups before their game against the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center at San Jose

Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks Rookies Have Brought Good Vibes to a..

The rookie’s arrival has boosted spirits incongruously high inside the flagging franchise.
Mar 26, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) in the first half Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
April 1, 2025

The Creator Behind the LeBron ‘Glazing’ Trend Sweeping TikTok

FOS spoke to TikTok user OkaySpade who made the original song.
Mar 22, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; McNeese State Cowboys manager Amir Khan before a second round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Amica Mutual Pavilion
April 1, 2025

Inside the 24-Hour NIL March Madness Deals

Some of the most viral partnerships come together overnight.
Seattle Kraken
April 1, 2025

Samantha Holloway Is Seattle’s NHL Present—and Hopeful NBA Future

Samantha Holloway is steering the Kraken and hoping to revive pro hoops.

This Year’s Masters Features Smallest LIV Golf Contingent Yet

There are 12 LIV players set to compete in Augusta.
March 31, 2025

WNBA Draft: Tourney Stars Face Tough Choices Amid CBA Uncertainty

Flau’Jae Johnson is still undecided.
Mar 30, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart (28) reacts after a fight against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second quarter at Target Center. Stewart was later ejected from the game.
April 1, 2025

NBA Lightly Suspends Five Players for Timberwolves-Pistons Brawl

The brawl came in a game where 12 technical fouls were issued.
Sponsored

How UBS Crafts Impactful Partnerships Across Sports, Arts, and Culture

As UBS continues to expand its impressive array of sports and entertainment partnerships, the company solidifies its position as a leader in wealth management.
Sponsored

Win. Advance. Repeat: The Professional Fighters League’s Rise to Prominence 

As of 2025, PFL has introduced a World Tournament format, where every fighter must battle through a high-stakes bracket to reach a championship.
Kendall Coyne Schofield
March 25, 2025

Kendall Coyne Schofield Wants More for the Next Wave of Mom-Athletes

The Walter Cup–winning Frost captain says small changes mean “everything.”
March 21, 2025

Tennis Turmoil: Grand Slams Reject Tours’ Proposal Amid Pay Dispute

The Grand Slams wish to create a “premium tour.”
March 21, 2025

Blue Jays CEO Says Guerrero Not Ohtani, but Confident He’ll Sign

Blue Jays CEO Mark Shapiro is optimistic about keeping the superstar.