MIRAMAR, FLA. (WSVN) - An Opa-Locka Police sergeant, the brother of the city’s mayor, is being accused of physical abuse of his wife and children over the course of nearly a decade.
7News cameras captured Opa-Locka Police Sgt. Johane Hendrik Taylor, wearing a hoodie and pants, as he shielded his face and ran from reporters shortly after he walked out of the Broward County Jail, Wednesday evening.
Miramar Police arrested the 36-year-old late Tuesday night after, they said, he put a gun to his wife’s head and beat her.
7News cameras captured police as they removed large boxes, possibly holding guns, from Taylor’s home earlier on Wednesday.
“We haven’t seen anything unusual happening,” said Yvonne, a neighbor. “They seemed to be quiet.”
Neighbors were shocked to learn why he was arrested.
“Oh, I didn’t know what to think,” Yvonne said. “I woke up this morning, I asked what happened, because part of my yard was roped with the yellow tape.”
A police report described Taylor as a serial domestic abuser.
The suspect, who served in the Opa-Locka Police Department for eight years, is also the brother of the town’s current mayor, John Taylor Jr., and the son of the Myra Taylor, who served as mayor on and off for 10 years.
According to a Miramar Police report, Taylor is being accused of hitting his wife since 2014, when his wife accused him of cheating.
Officials said that he began punching her in the face and body with closed fists, hitting her sides, abdomen, legs and back.
The report states Taylor threatened his wife, telling her that if “she called police and he lost his job, he would be sure she paid for it,” and that “he will make sure that he will end her life.”
The report also mentions that he beat his three children, ages 7, 10 and 13 years old.
In 2020, Taylor was accused of dragging his wife out of their car and beating her in a parking lot in front of their children.
In May 2022, the report states, he beat her so badly that she suffered a “broken rib, bruises on her side, her eyes were bruised and swollen, her head was swollen and behind her ears was bruised.
Taylor’s wife lost consciousness and her children called 911.
The report states Taylor told his wife to tell paramedics that she fell while mopping.
In January, Taylor’s wife told police he held a gun to her forehead. The report states he said that “he should kill her right now.”
The report also stated that he hit one of his children with vacuum and whipped them a belt based on their ages.
His 13-year-old daughter couldn’t go to school “for the next several days until the bruising lessened and she was able to wear the uniform shirt again.” Police said that the teen may have been abused since she was 3 years old.
Investigators said Taylor coached his children about what to say at their school as to not alert Child Protective Services.
Taylor was being held at the Broward County Jail before he bonded out.
The City of Opa-locka released a statement that reads as follows, “The City of Opa-locka and its police department have a zero-tolerance policy for police misconduct. At approximately 8 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28, Opa-locka Police Sergeant Johane Taylor, Jr. was arrested by the City of Miramar Police Department. At that same time, the decision was made to immediately relieve Sergeant Taylor of duty without pay pending the results of an investigation.”
Taylor’s wife has filed a restraining order against him. He cannot go near her or the children.
A petition has been filed to remove any personal weapons Taylor may have. That would be under Florida’s “red flag” law.
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