Sandy MaloneMiami Beach, FL – A Miami Beach police officer was reprimanded after a cell phone video went viral of him holding a rifle over his head pointing it in the general direction of police activity inside an apartment.
The incident occurred just before 10:15 a.m. on March 23 at an apartment building in the 1500-block of Drexel Avenue, WSVN reported.
Investigators responded to a call from Robert Mendez, the building’s owner, who said he had just been robbed by a man with a rifle who had threatened to shoot him.
Mendez said he was afraid for his life but he managed to get away and call 911, WSVN reported.
When police arrived on the scene, Mendez directed them to Clinton Adams.
Adams fled when he saw the officers and ran into an apartment owned by somebody else, WSVN reported.
The owner of that residence filmed video of Adams being arrested by several officers.
“Why are you arresting me?” Adams yelled in the video as he resisted arrest.
“Put your hands behind your back!” an officer ordered him in the video as he continued to struggle.
The video of the encounter showed that one of the officers who responded to the scene stood behind two other officers in the doorway holding what appeared to be a semiautomatic rifle over his head in an in appropriate manner.
The officer, who was wearing a tactical helmet in the video, held the rifle sideways over his head, the video showed.
“Like, is this really happening? I just had guns pointed at me,” the neighbor ranted to WSVN afterwards.
“It was really scary,” his girlfriend said.
Miami Beach Police are looking into the way an officer handled his gun Tuesday during this arrest of a man for aggravated battery & other charges on 15th & Drexel. A police source says he’s been stripped of his rifle privileges & assigned to more training. @wsvn #Exclusive pic.twitter.com/nLUxRF1XoS
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) March 19, 2021
Police sources told WSVN that the officer has been reprimanded and had his rifle privileges taken away until he undergoes new training.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are being reviewed as it pertains to firearm tactics. Once complete, the necessary training will be provided,” Miami Beach Police Spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said.
Police recovered the .22 rifle Mendez said Adams pointed at him during the robbery, WSVN reported.
Holly Matkin
