SURFSIDE, FLA. (WSVN) - Records obtained by 7News show that a Surfside Police officer who was mentioned in a complaint that a family filed with the department was also at the center of at least one prior complaint against him.
Body-worn camera video showed Surfside Police Officer Joseph Mathews, a beloved 18-year veteran of the force, casting doubt on the account of the 16-year-old girl who reported being harassed by a man, June 16.
“You didn’t see that; you’re not sure,” said Mathews.
“[He told me], like, ‘We can go on dates, and I could do this to you and, like, it was weird,” she told officers.
The teen’s family filed a complaint with Surfside Police over how they were treated that night.
The girl’s mother, Andrew Munoz, is seen in the bodycam video pointing out the hostile tone of the exchange outside of the family’s home along Hawthorne Avenue.
“I feel like it’s an interrogation,” she said.
“It is an interrogation,” said an officer.
“Because I don’t like the way that you’re speaking to us,” said Munoz.
Munoz later spoke with 7News about the exchange.
“We were being harassed,” she said.
This was not the first time Mathews has been named in a complaint.
There is a record of a 2016 internal affairs investigation in his file. It alleged Mathews and other “officers created a mob style police encounter” during the arrest of a man suspected of driving under the influence.
The record states the man who was taken into custody said “officers treated him in a disrespectful and unprofessional manner by laughing at him, mocking his last name and belongings.”
Seven years later, the Munoz family shared similar concerns.
The bodycam footage shows Mathews appearing to mock the teen’s description of her encounter with the stranger.
“OK, don’t know what ‘all the way down there’ is. Like, I don’t know, like, where like, all the way, like, on like, like all the way is. Where is that?” said Mathews.
“I’m mortified,” said her mother.
“She’s freaking out. I’m asking questions, and the mother is saying that I’m being hostile,” said Mathews.
7News also spoke with the teen’s 19-year-old brother, Dominick Munoz.
“[The officer was] standing here mocking us,” he said.
In the bodycam video, Mathews addressed the presence of the teen’s older sibling.
“So [her mother] gonna send her 19-year-old son out here,” the officer said before he started laughing.
A spokesperson with the police department issued a statement that reads in part, “The incident was handled in compliance with department policies and procedures.”
On July 12, a 7News crew went to Surfside Town Hall in an attempt to learn more about the exchange.
After initially declining to comment on the incident, Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger spoke up when asked how he thinks the police officers handled the situation.
“I only saw two minutes of that video. From what I understand, it went on for almost 90 minutes, so I would want to see the full video before I make any determinations or come to any conclusions,” he said.
When asked to comment about the portion of the video where Mathews appeared to mock the teen, Danzinger replied, “It’s just a piece of the puzzle. As someone who’s been on the media myself, and I’ve seen my own words get cut to pieces, I would want to see the entire thing in its entirety.”
Days before the June 16 incident, Mathews received an “Officer of the Year Award” for his role in responding to the Champlain South Tower collapse.
Ariol Lage, the officer seen to his left in a picture of the ceremony, also responded to the call near the Munoz family’s residence.
An incident narrative mentions nothing about the testy exchanges seen on the bodycam footage, which the family said was muted during several other contentious moments.
“You’re calling the police for something that’s an adult thing,” an officer told the teen in the bodycam footage.
When asked whether the bodycam footage from that night had been altered, Danzinger replied, “No, they wouldn’t do that.”
As for Mathews’ 2016 “allegation of employee misconduct” and “discourtesy,” it was determined to be “inconclusive.”
Mathews did try to find the man who the teen said harassed her that night. He was never located.
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