WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Miami Gardens Police officers arrested a man after they responded to an attempted burglary in a residential neighborhood. Now, a mother wants accountability after, she said, her son was wrongfully arrested outside his home.
Officers first responded to the residence, located on Northwest 180th Terrance and Sunshine State Parkway, at around 2:30 a.m. on Friday.
Surveillance video footage captured several police vehicles in the vicinity and officers with weapons drawn at the house.
According to Miami Gardens officials, authorities were called out to the area at 2:04 a.m. in reference to an attempted burglary. Before law enforcement arrived, the victim held the suspect at gunpoint before fleeing the scene.
A Miami Gardens Police sergeant thought they located the subject because he matched the description of the subject.
At around 6 a.m., new witness details emerged regarding the incident.
According to Martha, the mother of the man arrested following this incident, an officer initially mistook her son outside of the home for a burglary suspect. The mother said her son was merely on the phone outside his home.
“I was out when my son called me and told me he was [being] chased by the police,” said Martha.
Officials said a police sergeant spotted the suspect running in the vicinity of the aforementioned house and pursued the man. Upon noticing the police presence, the man retreated inside his residence, prompting officers, including the sergeant, to rush the door and attempt to apprehend him.
Video footage from a Ring camera with a timestamp of 2:19 a.m. captured the moment when the man ran inside his home, with police moving to detain him.
Martha spoke to 7News but did not want to reveal her face.
“[My son] was outside the house talking to somebody on the phone,” she said. “[Police] just showed up. They said there was a burglary in another house, and then the description that shows — I don’t know what the description was, but he was on the phone talking. He didn’t say anything. They just pull up.”
Ring camera footage provided to 7News showed Martha’s son, John Kelly Saint Rilus, walking out of the house on the phone at 1:44 a.m. At 1:49 a.m. he was seen walking back inside with the phone still in his hand.
While the burglary call was first reported at 2:04 a.m., Ring camera footage from 2:11 a.m. showed Saint Rilus walking back outside as he still chatted on his phone. Footage from a different camera at the home showed Saint Rilus at 2:18 a.m.walking while on the street.
One minute later, police pulled up, and they said Saint Rilus ran into his home.
Although the mother said her 23-year-old son was not involved in any criminal activity. He has been charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence, as the sergeant suffered a severe injury after the man closed an iron door on his thumb.
“They were trying to run inside the house, so [my son] tried to close the gate,” the mother said. “The door then hit the officer’s finger.”
An ambulance was dispatched to transport the sergeant to a local hospital.
Saint Rilus then surrendered.
“They said he has to come out and he has to surrender because of the officer,” Martha said. “If not, they were going to call the SWAT team.”
According to an arrest report by Miami Gardens Police, it reads as follows, “The defendant was not identified as the suspect from the initial burglary call … during a show-up conducted by Officer Dhanraj.”
While Martha is upset, she is grateful that the situation did not end up worse. Now, she wants accountability.
“They need to do something about those things, they need to do something. They need to make some changes, because this can’t be happening,” she said. “That’s how you get kids killed by officers for no reason.”
According to Martha, she paid her son’s bond. As of late Friday night, he has not been released from jail.
Miami Gardens Police did not immediately respond to 7News’ request for more information about their investigation.
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