Miami-Dade Officer Relieved Of Duty After "Rough Take Down" Of Woman Was Caught On Camera
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A Miami-Dade police officer has been suspended after a cellphone video surfaced of what some are calling a 'rough take down' of a woman on a sidewalk.
That woman, 26-year-old Dyma Loving, is speaking out, telling CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "I am discouraged honestly. Life is not the same. What happened made me feel like trash. They should not have done that to me. Yeah, I was yelling because I was pumped up and I almost lost my life when a man pulled a gun out on me and my friend so I was shouting at police, yes. I was thinking of my children. I mean I was the one who called police."
"They should not have acted like this and put their hands all over me and they had no right to rough me up," she said. "I was crying all night after this. Kept me in a cop car for over four hours. I hope that the police director does not condone this. And I just pray there is more training in the future for other officers," she added.
Loving was arrested on March 5th after police were called to 11301 SW 201st Street about a neighbor dispute.
Adrianna Green, 22, told the police she and Loving were walking on the sidewalk in front of the home of a neighbor, identified as Frank Tumm, when he called her a whore.
Green said she picked up a plant from Tumm's front yard and threw it.
She told the police that Tumm then got a gun, which appeared to be a shotgun, pointed it at them and threatened to shoot them.
When police questioned Tumm, he admitted to arguing with the women but said there was no gun involved, according to an incident report.
Tumm told CBS4, "I never pulled out a gun. That is false. Why would I have pulled out a gun if I can't see anything from behind all the trees and shrubs in my yard? They were making that up."
Tumm told the officers that another man, Alfred Gerald, had witnessed the whole thing.
Gerald initially said it was only a verbal dispute. He later changed his story and said Tumm did point a gun at the women.
Tumm may face a charge of aggravated assault, according to the incident report.
When police questioned Loving about what had happened, she "became belligerent and would not obey commands," according to the incident report. So far she has not been arrested.
The report states that she began to scream and refused to obey their commands to stop which "interrupted" their investigation.
When police went to arrest her for disorderly conduct, she resisted.
Cellphone video shows police surrounding her as one officer, identified as A. I. Giraldo, grabs her arm.
Loving can repeatedly be heard saying, "do not touch me, do not touch me."
On the video, when Loving resisted being put in handcuffs, Giraldo wrapped both of his arms around her head and dragged her to the ground.
Loving was then handcuffed and taken to a patrol car.
She was charged with resisting arrest without violence and disorderly conduct.
She told D'Oench that, "I am a single mother of three struggling to get by. I am going to hire an attorney and I want an apology and may sue."
In the video, you can hear an officer saying Loving was taken into custody for her conduct.
"When he's giving her orders, she's being disorderly, she needs to calm down," explained the officer.
"They shouldn't have done that, there was no reason for anyone to get physical with me. I feel like I have freedom of speech, whether I was yelling or not, my life was threatened. You know, you have no right to touch me, there's no words to explain how I feel," said Loving. "I cry every day, my life isn't the same."
Adrianna Green said, "They were very rough with her. They grabbed her by the neck. She was not belligerent. She was verbally communicative and she was not out of order."
Video of the takedown was put on social media and caught the attention of Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez, who said in a statement that the actions depicted in the video are "troubling."
"I find the actions depicted on the video deeply troubling and in no way reflective of our core values of integrity, respect, service, and fairness. This is why last week, upon becoming aware of the video posted on social media, an immediate inquiry was initiated which resulted in the involved officer being relieved of duty and of his role as a field training officer. An investigation into the entire incident is currently ongoing and I upon its conclusion, I will hold those that violated any of our policies and/or procedures accountable for their actions or lack thereof."
The Dade County Police Benevolent Association also weighed in on the video.
"We have reviewed the video circulating on social media of our officers making an arrest. While the video depicts limited footage of the incident, from what we see the officers were justified in making the arrest on a subject who was uncooperative and refusing to obey a lawful order. The job of a police officer is extremely difficult and we would caution any rush to judgement and demand that our officers due process be protected."
Loving said, "I just hope that the Director does not condone. And I hope all officers will be trained to not do this. Who knows if this could have happened to someone else. I just hope there is a lesson here. I am going to hire an attorney and I may sue and I want an apology."