WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - One of four men who were arrested outside of a nightclub in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood said police officers used excessive force during the tough takedown, leaving him bloodied and bruised.
Christian Llanos spoke with 7News after he bonded out of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade, Saturday.
He maintained his innocence in early Friday morning’s encounter with officers outside of Centro Wynwood.
“Disappointed, completely, because we didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.
Llanos said the mayhem unfolded after he and a group of friends left the club and saw his brother getting attacked.
“Two random guys pulled up, came up to my brother, slapped him,” he said.
Shortly after he ran to help his sibling, Llanos said, two City of Miami Police officers arrived.
“Officer hits me from the back, completely weighing on the side of my face. They handcuffed us; [the officer] grabs my leg and pulls me while I’m handcuffed. I hit my head on the car,” said Llanos.
That’s when, Llanos said, the men who attacked them prior to the officers’ arrival ran away.
When the officers started hitting him and his friends, Llanos said, his friend Antonio Ordonez took out his cellphone and began recording.
Ordonez spoke with 7News on Friday.
“[The officer] is just hitting him nonstop,” he said.
The footage shows an officer repeatedly punching Llanos as he lay on the pavement.
Llanos and three others were taken into custody and booked into jail.
But video posted online by Only in Dade showed men throwing punches at police before they were taken down.
In the arrest report, an officer wrote a man “hit me in my rib area/waist and grabbed me aggressively and pushed me.”
Another officer stated, “I was struck on my right side of my face.”
But Llanos said the officers’ response was excessive.
“We didn’t do anything wrong. All we were doing was defend somebody that is very dear to us, because these two guys wanted to have a tussle for some reason. We don’t even know why,” he said.
Llanos hopes the situation and the officer who, he said, left his face scarred and swollen are fully investigated.
“It’s uncalled for what they did, I truly think so. I understand they wanted to contain the situation, but this is not containing the situation. I don’t see this as containing the situation,” he said.
A spokesperson for Miami Police issued a statement that reads, “Pursuant to its internal investigation protocols, the Miami Police Department is actively reviewing all video and testimonial evidence related to the use of force and will take appropriate action if any violations are identified.”
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