OPA-LOCKA, FLA. (WSVN) - More than two years after an arrest was caught on camera, an Opa-Locka Police officer is now being charged with battery. The man who was seen in the video is now speaking publicly for the first time.
“They treat me like an animal, and I am happy for the people arrested that do it,” Jafet Castro said.
Thirty-five-year old Lt. Sergio Perez surrendered Tuesday related to the September 2020 arrest.
“We appreciate the work of the state attorney and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to do what should have been done two years ago,” said Michael Pizzi, Castro’s attorney.
The day of the arrest, Castro’s family called for help, claiming the then 19-year-old was suffering with mental health issues.
According to arrest report, the family had already restrained him.
Cameras captured Perez punching the teen in the face, then dragging him down his home’s front steps. The first investigation into the arrest was carried out internally by the Opa-Locka Police Department, which found no wrongdoing.
But when a new top cop took over, he called for another look.
“It’s my job to make sure officers are held accountable,” said Opa-locka Police Chief Scott Israel.
Israel held a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
“When I reviewed the case, I appropriately and properly sent it to the Dade County State Attorney’s Office for review after the [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] investigated, and that’s where we stand now,” Israel said.
The attorney for officer Perez told 7News he believes the second look into the case is related to another case against his client.
Perez was charged with battery last year, accused of shocking a co-worker with a Taser, but that officer, the star witness, has since been fired from the force himself.
Attorney Richard Diaz offered this assessment of the new charge in a statement that read as follows, “It’s the state attorney’s office and FDLE desperately doubling down with this late, selective and vindictive charge. We look forward to a jury trial in both cases.”
Perez has been relieved of duty without pay.
Meanwhile, Castro and his family filed a lawsuit in federal court against the officers involved in his arrest and the city, alleging civil rights violations.
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