Miami-Dade Officer Charged With Slapping Of Handcuffed Teen Found Not Guilty
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A Miami-Dade police sergeant accused of slapping a hand-cuffed teen in the face was found not guilty by a Miami-Dade jury on Thursday afternoon.
Sgt. Manuel Regueiro was charged with misdemeanor battery.
It happened back in March of this year, when Brayn Crespo, 18, was being led out of his Allapattah residence in handcuffs after he was arrested for allegedly stealing airbags from cars.
Home surveillance video shows several officers inside the living room of the house, then Crespo appears shirtless as he is being led out of the house.
Just as Crespo is almost out the door, the video shows Regueiro slap him in the face with his left hand.
Regueiro would testify during his trial that Crespo had tried to spit on him.
Crespo was charged at the time with conspiring to deal in stolen property.
Crespo's attorney Cam Cornish said that the video almost never became public because the officers took a lithium battery, thinking it was the video recorder's hard drive.
Officer Alexander Gonzalez was charged with third-degree felony tampering with evidence and misdemeanor petty theft.