SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police are investigating after a plainclothes officer allegedly knocked a teen off his bicycle and left him bruised in Southwest Miami-Dade.
The incident happened near Southwest 99th Court and Southwest 84th Street, last Wednesday night.
Diana Zegretti, the victim’s mother, told 7News she was furious when, she said, the Miami-Dade Police officer purposely knocked her 14-year-old son off his bicycle.
“You don’t act like that as a police officer to children,” she said. “His right arm at the time was numb and tingling, and both of his knees were hurting. They were scratched.”
Zegretti said she and her two sons were heading home after a day of riding their bicycles when an officer dressed in plain clothes and driving a county car pulled up and became verbally abusive.
“He rolled down his window and started screaming at us, ‘Get the [expletive] out of the road,’ cursing and saying it’s against the law, that we can’t be in the street,” she said.
Zegretti said, after the cop became verbally abusive, she yelled back. During the heated back-and-forth, the mother said, the officer intentionally opened his car door and hit her son, which sent him flying off his bicycle and left him badly bruised.
“I started yelling at him, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ And he got in my face, and when he got close to me, I then pushed him away from me really hard on his left shoulder,” she said, “and that’s when he said, ‘Oh, you just assaulted a police officer.'”
Unaware that the man was a police officer, Zegretti took photos of the officer and his county vehicle and called 911.
When police arrived and realized they were dealing with one of their fellow officers, they sent the case to internal affairs.
Miami-Dade Police released a statement to 7News that read in part, “The department will take all measures in order to conduct a balanced and thorough investigation into the allegations. As in all internal investigations, the findings cannot be discussed until the investigation is concluded. Should the investigation reveal violations of established policies and procedures, we will take the appropriate corrective action.”
Zegretti said she hopes her bad experience will give the officer the punishment he deserves.
“I don’t want him to try and intimidate or bully another mom or children like he did. It’s just wrong,” she said.
Zegretti said her son will be OK.
Police continue to investigate the incident.
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