U.S. Olympic track and field star Fred Kerley was arrested in Miami Beach after a confrontation with police on Thursday.
The department released police body camera footage showing Kerley approaching police before being struck and wrestled to the ground. The athlete was hit with a stun gun and placed in handcuffs, according to USA Today.
Kerley, who is an Olympic bronze medalist in the men’s 100-meter dash, was charged with battery, resisting an officer and disorderly conduct. He was booked into jail and released the following afternoon.
A police report alleges that Kerley, 29, walked up on a police scene and began peppering officers with questions about his car parked nearby. The report says that Kerley exhibited an “aggressive demeanor” and tried to push past them despite their warnings for him to stand back. One officer reportedly lifted his hand at the Olympian, but he forcefully brushed the officer’s hand aside.
At that point, officers reportedly tried to place Kerley into custody, but he performed “evasive movements to avoid being arrested.”
Officers told him to “stop resisting,” but he reportedly replied, “I’m not resisting; get off of me, bro,” and called the police “weak.”
Kerley’s companion was also at the scene and is heard yelling in the video, “Stop.”
“He didn’t do anything!” she told officers. “We were walking to our car! Our car is right there!”
Kerley, a native of San Antonio, Texas, won the silver medal in the men’s 100-meter dash at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, then a world championship in 2022, also in the 100 m. Last year, he took the bronze at the Paris Games. He also medaled in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
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