FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A man and a woman who took the stand in the trial of a former Miccosukee Police officer accused the law enforcer of forcing them to take off all their clothes and run naked during a traffic stop in the Everglades that took place when they were both teenagers.
Michael Martinez, the accused, sat in a Broward County courtroom as he listened to testimony from Kyle Shoulta and Remy Riley, Wednesday morning.
Authorities said Martinez pulled over Shoulta and Riley near mile marker 48 of Alligator Alley, located in the tribe’s reservation, on Aug. 5, 2016.
Speaking on the witness stand, Shoulta said the officer gave him two options.
“I was given a choice of go to jail or run, so I took the choice to run naked,” he said.
During cross-examination, Riley described what was going through her mind at the time.
“Of course I felt scared. Of course I felt intimidated,” she said.
Investigators said Shoulta and Riley were driving from Tampa to Fort Lauderdale at the time.
Police said Shoulta ran a stop sign after he’d stopped for gas, and that’s when he was pulled over.
Shoulta and Riley both admitted to having a small amount of drugs in the car.
When asked whether the vehicle smelled like marijuana, Shoulta replied, “It did.”
Riley said Martinez, 30, told them they were heading to jail.
“He found a pot brownie, and he said, ‘OK, well, you guys are [expletive] now,” she said.
But Riley and Shoulta said the officer then gave them another option: follow him down a secluded road, strip naked and run.
Shoulta recorded cellphone video as he drove behind Martinez’s SUV. He said he was the first to run with no clothes on.
Riley said the officer then turned to her.
“I took my pants off. I took my shirt off. I kind of looked at him, like, is this enough?” she said. “He was like, ‘That’s it?’ I turned around from them, I turned away, I took my underwear off, I took my bra off.”
Riley said she initially tried to cover her privates while she ran.
“I ran in the opposite direction holding myself. I ran back in the opposite direction holding myself,” she said. “While I’m in the middle of holding myself, he’s like, ‘Move your hands away from your body so I can see.'”
Reports also show where Martinez tried to solicit a sexual favor from Riley.
Shoulta and Riley reported the incident. Martinez was still on probation for his job and was fired.
In 2017, he was arrested and charged with extortion, accused of forcing teenagers to strip naked and run to avoid criminal charges.
Riley broke down in tears in court as she further described the emotional toll the incident took on her.
“It was not what I wanted to do. It felt like I had no choice,” she said. “At 18 years old, I don’t feel like you should know what to do. I felt like that was his job.”
If convicted, Martinez faces up to five years in prison. He is expected to testify on Thursday.
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