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The Miami police officer who was seen on video violently kicking a handcuffed man in the head will be fired and charged with assault, law enforcement officials said on Tuesday.
Former Officer Mario Figueroa was charged with second-degree misdemeanor assault. The charges came after prosecutors reviewed and released new video in which the officer and the suspect acknowledged that the kick did not actually make contact with the suspect’s head.
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The police say they had chased the suspect, David Suazo, who was allegedly driving a stolen vehicle before he crashed. Suazo had fled on foot and was eventually apprehended by police.
The video shows Suazo, face down on the ground, handcuffed and motionless. Figueroa then comes sprinting toward Suazo and appears to kick Suazo in the head.
“Officer Mario Figueroa can have no excuse for the alleged actions seen on the videotape,” Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the Miami-Dade County State Attorney, said in a statement. “This community demands respect for all individuals taken into custody.
“Evidence of abuse, which is evidence of a crime, will allow us to go forward with this prosecution.”
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Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina initially suspended Figueroa with pay, pending the results of an internal investigation. But on Tuesday, Colina said the department had “begun the termination process.”
On Tuesday, Rundle’s office released video where Suazo taunts Figueroa, pointing out that he was unsuccessful in his apparent attempt to kick him.
“You missed trying to kick me,” Mr. Suazo says, before adding, “Learn how to aim, my boy.”
“If I wanted to kick you,” Officer Figueroa replies, “you know I would have kicked you, right?”
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Prosecutors said that Officer Figueroa, would have faced a more serious battery charge had his kick connected. Florida state law describes an assault as any “intentional, unlawful threat” to do violence to another person that causes that person to actually fear that violence is imminent.
If convicted, Figueroa could be sentenced to up to 60 days in jail.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, initially told The New York Times he was “disgusted” by the incident. Suazo has been charged with grand theft, fleeing a police officer, and traffic violations.
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