MIAMI – The Miami-Dade Police Department has identified one of the officers involved in the detainment of Miami Dolphins star receiver Tyreek Hill.
MDPD, courtesy
MDPD said, “Officer Danny Torres, 27-year tenure, remains in administrative duties, as the Internal Affairs investigation is still ongoing. We will provide further information once it becomes available pending the outcome of the investigation.”
Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, called for the officers involved to be fired.
“For me, personally, I believe the police officers that did that to Tyreek shouldn’t be in that position — they should be let go,” Rosenhaus told ESPN.
On Monday, the department released bodycam video of the officers detaining Hill.
The video shows a motorcycle police officer dragging Hill out of his black McLaren sports car by his arm and head and forcing him face-first onto the ground after Hill put up the window of his car during a traffic stop before Sunday’s game. A senior law enforcement source told CBS News Miami that Hill, a five-time All-Pro wide receiver, was stopped for reckless driving.
As the video shows, the altercation between the officers and Hill escalated quickly. The officers cursed at Hill but he did not resist their physical force or strike at them. He told one officer, “Don’t tell me what to do.”
Video shows that two motorcycle officers went after Hill after he appeared to speed past them in his car on the roadway entering Hard Rock Stadium in light traffic. They turned on their lights and pulled Hill over. One knocked on the driver’s window and told him to put it down, which Hill did and handed him his driver’s license.
“Don’t knock on my window like that,” Hill told the officer repeatedly.
“I have to knock to let you know I am here,” the officer told Hill while repeatedly asking why the player didn’t have his seatbelt on.
“Just give me my ticket, bro, so I can go. I am going to be late. Do what you gotta do,” Hill told the officer while putting his darkly tinted window back up.
“Keep your window down,” the officer told him, again tapping on the glass. Hill can still be seen inside.
Hill cracked the window and said, “Don’t tell me what to do.” He put the window back up. The officer again told Hill to put it back down or “I am going to get you out of the car. As a matter of fact, get out of the car.”
The officer then demanded Hill open the door. Another officer stepped up and said, “Get out of the car or I will break that … window,” using an obscenity.
The door opened and the second officer reached in and grabbed Hill by the arm and the back of the head as the player said, “I am getting out.”
The second officer forced Hill face-first onto the ground. Three officers pulled Hill’s arms behind his back as Hill yelled into his cell phone, “I am getting arrested, Drew.” He was speaking to the team’s director of security, Drew Brooks, who soon showed up at the scene. Drew Rosenhaus, his agent, also showed up.
The officers handcuffed Hill and one put a knee in the middle of his back. “If we tell you to do something, do it.”
“Take me to jail, brother, do what you gotta do,” Hill replied.
“We are,” an officer said.
“You crazy,” Hill said to the officer.
The officers then pull him to his feet as Hill said, “Why you beating on my window like you are all crazy for?”
The officers stood Hill up and walked him to the sidewalk. One officer told him to sit on the curb. Hill said to the officer he just had surgery on his knee.
An officer then jumped behind him and put a barhold around Hill’s upper chest or neck. He pulled Hill into a seating position.
“Chill, bro,” Hill told the officers.
At that point, teammate Jonnu Smith parked his SUV in front of Hill’s car, got out and asked what was going on. The officers ordered Smith to get back in his vehicle and leave. They then told him they were going to give him a ticket for blocking the road.
Defensive tackle Calais Campbell also pulled up. He was told to leave and when he didn’t, he was briefly handcuffed.
Hill and Campbell were eventually released and allowed to go into the stadium. Hill received citations for careless driving and failing to wear a seatbelt, but was never arrested, the video shows.
The officer who detained Hill has been placed on administrative duties, pending the findings of an internal investigation.
Julius B. Collins, Hill’s attorney, said the receiver’s legal team is exploring all legal options and called the officers’ actions “excessive.”
Collins said in a statement Monday the traffic stop escalated when Hill gave officers his license and rolled his window back up.
“One of the officers then knocked on Mr. Hill’s driver side window and advised Mr. Hill to keep his window rolled down otherwise he was going to get him out of the car,” Collins said, adding that Hill rolled his window down each time he was asked to.
“I wasn’t disrespectful because my mom didn’t raise me that way,” Hill said. “Didn’t cuss. Didn’t do none of that. So like I said, I’m still trying to figure it out, man.”
Steadman Stahl, the president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, said officers followed policy in handcuffing Hill.
“At no time was he ever under arrest,” Stahl said. “He was briefly detained for officer safety, after driving in a manner in which he was putting himself and others in great risk of danger.”
“Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers on the scene who, pursuant to policy and for their immediate safety, placed Mr. Hill in handcuffs,” Stahl said. “Mr. Hill, still uncooperative, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore redirected to the ground. Once the situation was sorted out within a few minutes, Mr. Hill was issued two traffic citations and was free to leave.”
Passing fans and some teammates saw Hill in handcuffs on the side of the road with at least three officers around him. The incident quickly went viral just hours before the Dolphins kicked off their season Sunday.
In a statement Monday night, the Miami Dolphins called the behavior of the officers who were involved “despicable” and urged the Miami-Dade Police Department to take “swift and strong action” against them.
“We are saddened by the overly aggressive and violent conduct directed towards Tyreek Hill, Calais Campbell and Jonnu Smith,” the Dolphins said, in part.
“It is both maddening and heartbreaking to watch the very people we trust to protect our community use such unnecessary force and hostility towards these players, yet it is also a reminder that not every situation like this ends in peace, as we are grateful this one did,” they said.
In a statement Sunday afternoon, Miami-Dade Police Director Stephanie V. Daniels said she requested an “immediate review” of the details surrounding the incident.
“I have initiated an Internal Affairs investigation to ensure a thorough review of the matter. One of the officers involved in the incident has been placed on administrative duties while the investigation is being conducted,” according to the statement.
Daniels wrote she is committed to “transparency and accountability to the community with any situation involving my officers.“
Daniels told news partner the Miami Herald on Monday that the decision to place the officer on leave came after a review of the body camera footage from the roadside incident.
