Watch a brawl at Miami’s airport that involved a police officer, a gun and a golf cart
A worker at Miami International Airport was transporting a passenger to a gate in a golf cart owned by Turkish Airlines Monday night, when seemingly out of nowhere, police said Mayfrer Serranopaca jumped on the front of the cart and snatched its key, breaking it off in the cart’s keyhole.
Total mayhem ensued as a Miami-Dade Police officer attempted to arrest Serranopaca in a crowd of about 100 angry passengers that moved toward the police officer. Serranopaca then threw punches and wrestled with the cop, prompting him to unholster his weapon and aim it towards the group to maintain control.
More officers were called to help control the crowd and Serranopaca and another man were eventually arrested. Most of the unruly incident near the airport’s gate H8 was captured on police body camera and cellphone video, which spread through social media.
Steadman Stahl, president of the union that represents most Miami-Dade police officers, said the officer who drew his weapon — only identified as Officer Castaneda — did what he was taught to do.
“He breaks off and it’s getting out of hand, so he draws his weapon. He stops the crowd and he re-holsters. He did nothing wrong and exactly what he is trained to do,” said Stahl, president of Miami-Dade’s Police Benevolent Association.
Serranopaca, 30, from Kissimmee, was taken into custody and now faces a slew of felony charges that include battery on a police officer, burglary, criminal mischief and false imprisonment, resisting arrest with violence and other charges. His bond has been set at $39,000.
Also charged with battery on a police officer and resisting arrest with violence was Alberto YanezSuarez, 32, of Odessa, Texas.
Dozens of passengers had been stranded at the airport since 9 a.m., waiting for an Air Century charter flight to Santo Domingo to depart. It was delayed because of a mechanical issue, an airport spokesman said. The charter company flies to Cuba and Santo Domingo. The flight was rescheduled for Friday.
According to Stahl and Serranopaca’s arrest report, the chaos erupted at Gate H8 just after 6:30 p.m., when Serranopaca decided that jumping the golf cart would help get him some answers. Police say he demanded the airport employee get someone from Air Century to explain why his flight had been delayed.
The airport worker radioed for police. When two officers arrived, they tried to calm Serranopaca. Their efforts only inflamed him and a large crowd began to gather by the cart, according to the arrest form.
When an officer tried calling for help, the officer said Serranopaca grabbed his arm. The officer turned and struck him with an open hand on the left side of his face. Serranopaca fell off the golf cart. The rest was captured on video.
Stahl said as far as he knows the officer is not facing any disciplinary action. The union president said fights at the airport have become so prevalent that Miami-Dade Police are deploying a pair of Rapid Deployment teams with about 30 officers to deal with the crowds over the holidays. Miami International Airport says no one was injured in Monday’s fight.
“The cops have become punching bags,” said the union president.
In a statement Monday morning, MIA Director and CEO Ralph Cutié said like many airports across the country, MIA is seeing record high passenger numbers.
“Unfortunately, that passenger growth has come with a record-high increase nationwide in bad behavior as well, Cutié said.
The Federal Aviation Administration has seen an increase in unruly passenger incidents across the country this year, including mask-related fights on flights. The FAA says it has received 5,664 unruly passenger reports this year, with 4,072 of the incidents considered to be mask-related, as of Dec. 14, the agency’s most recent data.
Stahl said that in the past few days, Spirit Airlines has canceled about 30 flights, causing even more unruliness from passengers. And all of this is going on, Stahl said, as about 60 officers are out this week after either contracting COVID-19 or because of it.
Cutié said disruptive passengers could face arrest, civil penalties up to $37,000, flying bans and potential federal prosecution.
“We have worked so hard to rebound from the pandemic and make traveling safe again, so we can visit our loved ones,” he said. “Please travel responsibly by getting to the airport extra early, being patient, complying with the federal mask law and airport staff, limiting your alcohol consumption, and notifying police at the first sign of bad behavior by calling 911.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 10:11 AM.
