A Miami police officer will be fired and has been charged with assault after a video posted to Facebook showed the officer appearing to kick a handcuffed suspect in the head.
Officer Mario Figueroa is accused of running onto the scene after a car theft suspect, David Suazo, had been apprehended and handcuffed by another officer on Thursday.
In a 51-second video of the incident filmed by stay-at-home mother Lisa Harell, Figueroa appears to take a running start as he kicks Suazo, who isn't struggling during the arrest. Then the officer grabs the back of Suazo's head and forcefully pushes it into the ground. The video ends as three more officers arrive on the scene.
Watch video of the arrest:
Figueroa's charge is a second-degree misdemeanor. Harell said she began filming the arrest with her cell phone as Suazo surrendered to police.
After Suazo was arrested, he reported pain in his chest and was transported to an area hospital.
In yet another video filmed at the hospital, Suazo tells Figueroa that the running kick missed his head.
"Missed on the kick," Suazo said as he was lying face-down on the floor in the hospital. "Learn how to aim, my boy."
Figueroa responded, "If I wanted to kick you, you know, I would have kicked you right. ... I needed you to comply, so me pretending to kick you got you to comply, right?"
Figueroa claims he was just pretending to kick the suspect in the head, according to Miami's WPLG-TV 10.
According to authorities, Suazo had stolen a Jeep and fled from officers and crashed into a wall at an apartment complex. They say the suspect appeared he was preparing to fight police. Figueroa attempted to use his stun gun on Suazo, but it was ineffective. The arresting officer ordered Suazo to the ground, firing his stun gun, and the suspect obeyed. Suazo has been charged with grand theft and fleeing an officer.
After the footage of the arrest went public, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle ordered an investigation of Figueroa's conduct.
"Officer Mario Figueroa can have no excuse for the alleged actions seen on the initial videotape," Fernandez Rundle said in a statement to the New York Post. "This community demands respect for all individuals taken into custody."
Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina told WPLG-TV 10, "It was an obvious violation of our policy." He said Figueroa will be fired from the department, but the police union says the officer plans to fight the charges in court.
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