Opa-locka police captain who shot fellow cop with Taser among 3 officers facing charges

One Miami Gardens police officer kicked a restrained suspect during a scrum at a gas station, then kneed him on the neck for 22 seconds. Another Miami-Dade cop pushed and wrestled a drunk man to the ground, then lied about how it happened on a sworn police report, prosecutors say.

An Opa-locka police captain — notorious for having been involved in a car chase and crash that wound up killing four tourists — fired a Taser stun gun at a fellow cop, in the police station.

Those were the allegations announced Wednesday by the Miami-Dade prosecutors, who filed criminal cases against each officer in separate cases. In two of the cases, prosecutors alleged police used excessive force in dealing with suspects, the latest rough arrests to result in criminal charges in South Florida .

“We believe these cases today are more than good faith mistakes,” State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. told reporters at a Wednesday press conference.

Those arrested for misdemeanor battery: Opa-locka Police Capt. Sergio Perez, former Miami Gardens Officer Javier Castano and Miami-Dade Officer Joseph Diaz, who was also charged with a felony count of official misconduct for allegedly lying on a sworn arrest affidavit.

The cases are being prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office, which has charged a slew of police officers with battery during rough arrests in recent years, although at least three officers have been acquitted.

Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, the police union that is representing Castano and Diaz, said he was disappointed by the arrests. “The officers look forward to their day in court to clear their names,” he said.

The Taser case

The most high-profile case involves Perez, who surrendered to state agents on Wednesday morning.

Agents said he fired a Taser police weapon equipped with what is known as a “hook-and-loop” cartridge that does not deploy an electrical charge, at a colleague inside the police station. Axon, the company that produces the ubiquitous Taser stun gun, says the cartridge — which shoots hooks tipped with Velcro — is supposed to be used for training on someone wearing a special protective suit.

According to an arrest report, Perez on Sept. 1 entered the office of his co-worker, Sgt. Michael Steel, and said he “was there to certify him with the use of the new Taser 7.” Steel said he didn’t want to be certified. “Steel stated that he told Capt. Perez 6 or 7 times, ‘Captain, Don’t do it.’”

Steel turned away, the arrest report said, and Perez shot him in his back. “Stop acting like a baby, you know that didn’t hurt,” Perez allegedly told Steel. The gun didn’t produce an electrical charge but the hooks left two large welts in Steel’s back.

“It was determined that Capt. Perez was not a certified trainer with the Taser,” FDLE Agent Mike Perez wrote in his arrest report.

The Herald first reported that Perez, back in September, was under investigation for the Taser incident. The allegation came to light after an anonymous memo began circulating detailing the allegation and City Manager John Pate, during a city commission meeting, denied rumors of a cover-up.

Perez has a checkered legacy in Opa-locka, a city that has long struggled with financial and corruption scandals.

In 2013, a city investigation found he chased a vehicle the wrong way down Interstate 95, before the car he was pursuing slammed into an SUV, killing four tourists. He was fired two years later and reinstated after an arbiter ruled the city’s probe into a car accident he was involved in was flawed.

In October 2020, an Opa-locka family accused Perez of mistreating a handcuffed teen, dragging him down the steps of a home.

His defense attorney, Rick Diaz, vowed to take the latest case to trial. He said that Steel was delivering payback because Perez, a decade ago, got Steel fired for “corrupt activities.” He also accused Steel of trying to profit off a future lawsuit to the city.

“Capt. Perez did not point the Taser at or intentionally strike Mr. Steel,” Diaz said. Steel could not immediately be reached for comment.

A Disputed Police Report

In the Miami-Dade police case, the officer charged was Diaz, a patrol officer in the Northwest District.

What got Diaz in trouble, according to an arrest warrant, was his interaction with a drunk man at the Country Club Towers Apartments in Northwest Miami-Dade in July 2020. Investigators said residents complained about Kenny Ortega walking around the parking lot.

A review of body-worn camera showed Diaz allowed him to leave, warning him to “be careful about walking into traffic.” But when Ortega cursed at him under his breath, the two exchanged words and the officer pushed the man to the ground and handcuffed him.

Prosecutors say Diaz was charged with official misconduct for swearing to an arrest affidavit that was riddled with lies. In the report, Diaz wrote that Ortega was ‘screaming at the top of his lungs’ so much that residents left their apartments, he stumbled into the road nearly being struck by a car and took an ‘aggressive stance’ while refusing to place his hands behind his back.

According to the warrant, body-worn camera showed none of those claims actually happened.

“It is disheartening when a police officer violates their oath of office, this act is without dispute unacceptable,” Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez said in a statement. “The trust that our community instills on the men and women of the Miami-Dade Police Department will not be taken for granted, it is our duty to protect this great responsibility.”

It was unclear Wednesday if Diaz had retained a defense attorney.

A Knee to the Neck

The Miami Gardens case also took place in 2020, at a gas station where a motorist was reported doing “doughnuts” in the parking lot. When Castano and other officers tried to take Miguel McKay into custody, he fell to the ground, both his arms being held by the cops.

According to body-cam video shown during Wednesday’s press conference, McKay was lying on his back, not struggling, when Castano kicked him in the head. Then, as McKay was turned over and being handcuffed, Castano pressed his knee on McKay’s neck for 22 seconds, the arrest report said.

Knees to the neck have been widely banned or discouraged in police departments across the country, especially after the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota sparked nationwide protests against police brutality.

Castano, who was fired after the March 2020 incident, is charged with two counts of battery. It was unclear Wednesday if he had retained a defense lawyer.

This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 7:00 AM.