MIAMI BEACH – A track medalist in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics was arrested in Miami Beach after a confrontation with four officers Thursday night, according to police.
Fred Kerley, 29, of Miami, is facing charges of battery of a police officer and resisting an officer without violence. During his first appearance on Friday afternoon, the judge didn’t find probable cause for a charge of disorderly conduct/breach of the police and he was released from jail on his own recognizance.
Miami-Dade County Jail.
His girlfriend, Cleo Rahman, a national DJ known as Dj Sky High Baby, is facing a resisting officer without violence charge. Florida’s Halo Law, effective on Wednesday, establishes a 25-foot buffer zone around first responders to protect them during active duties and violations are classified as second-degree misdemeanors.
At 11:22 p.m., Miami Beach officers were involved in an investigation on the 100 block of Ninth Street. According to the arrest report: “Officers subsequently were approached by a black Male, wearing a gray hoodie, and black pants with an aggressive demeanor who was concerned about his vehicle that was parked in the area of the scene.”
Kerley argued with the officers and his girlfriend, who attempted to pull him away from officers to calm the situation, police said.
Despite officers’ efforts to de-escalate the situation, he stepped up to an officer.
A physical struggled ensued between him and the four officers.
One of the officers used a dart-firing stun gun, striking Kerley in the right lower back and he fell on his stomach, police said.
“The defendant’s action disrupted the flow of pedestrian traffic and caused a crowd on the nearest sidewalk,” according to the police report. “The defendant’s actions also endangered the safety of the staff and establishment patrons of the nearby restaurant and Ocean Drive.”
He was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami and then to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Team USA
In the 2020 Olympics, which took place in 2021 in Tokyo, Kerley finished second in the 100 meters.
In the 2024 Olympics in Paris, he was third, running the 100 in 9.81 seconds, just behind fellow American Noah Lyles and Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson in a photo finish.
Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images
Kerley was born in San Antonio and ran track at Texas A&M. He won the 400 meters at the NCAA Division I Championships in a world-leading time 44.85 seconds.
