MIAMI (WSVN) - Police said an officer was forced to deploy a Taser on a man who moved aggressively toward him in the middle of the street near a dog park in Miami.
Cellphone video captured the tense moment an officer shouted commands at the subject in the middle of North Bayshore Drive, Thursday afternoon.
“Get down right now!” an officer is heard saying.
But the footage showed the man continuing to inch closer to the officer.
The officer kept backing up and, shortly after, deployed a Taser.
Witnesses Kerri Sauer and Jonathan Mann said they have seen the man before.
“He sleeps on the bench every morning. I say ‘good morning’ to him every day,” said Sauer.
“I’ve seen him in the area before, sort of talking to himself and loudly yelling,” said Mann. “I’ve seen him before, sure, in the park.”
Thursday’s incident played out while Sauer was visiting the dog park, just before 4 p.m.
“I’m yelling, ‘Darren, calm down, calm down,’ but he was just so out there,” she said.
Investigators said they were in the area investigating something else when the man came up to them aggressively with something in his hand.
More officers showed up shortly after.
“He kept saying, ‘Just put me in cuffs, put me in cuffs,'” said Sauer.
Sauer said the man kept coming after the officer who deployed the Taser.
“What scared me for him was, once the officer deployed and he kept coming at the officer, the officer took out his baton and had it ready,” she said, “but thank God the officer didn’t feel the need to pull out a gun, because this is just a homeless guy that has mental issues.”
Several officers took him into custody.
“It looked like they took him down safely,” said Mann.
“The police officers did everything they needed to do to protect him as well as themselves,” said Sauer.
Area residents said they’re glad this situation ended peacefully.
“This is our community. He’s our family member, and we just have to love him for who he is and hope that he gets some help,” said Sauer.
Police have not released any details on possible charges the man may be facing.
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