Miami cop fired for punching homeless man who stole chicken at Publix. He plans to appeal
A Miami cop who knocked down and punched a homeless man accused of stealing a piece of chicken from a Publix deli counter has been fired, 20 months after the incident was caught on video.
Patrol officer Alex Garcia-Contreras, who was working an off-duty job at the grocery, was notified Nov. 10 that his seven-year career with Miami police was over because he had committed 18 rules violations, including using unnecessary force and the mistreatment of a prisoner. The officer’s four-page termination letter, signed by City Manager Art Noriega, said he had until Nov. 26 to appeal.
Miami police and Noriega did not respond to requests for comment on the officer’s termination. But Miami Fraternal Order of Police President Tommy Reyes was quick to defend the officer’s actions after the store manager alerted him to the actions of then 58-year-old Will Barbor.
“He was within his right and he was defending himself,” said Reyes. “He was actually being a nice guy and said, ‘I’ll buy you this chicken.’ But he got belligerent and the officer had to take action. It was a justifiable use of force.”
Reyes said Garcia-Contreras notified the city he intends to move forward through arbitration, a collectively bargained right for police that often finds in officers’ favor and returns them to work.
Garcia-Contreras, 34, has spent the past 20 months at home during working hours and unable to leave without permission as a condition of continuing to be paid as internal affairs investigated his actions. The city has not yet released the findings.
The officer got into hot water after video surfaced on social media showing him shoving Barbor to the ground inside Publix Supermarket at 1776 Biscayne Boulevard on April 16, 2021. Charges of petty theft, resisting arrest without violence and disorderly conduct were dismissed by prosecutors four days after his arrest. Barbor was released from jail the day after his arrest and told to avoid Publix.
His arrest report said the store manager alerted Garcia-Contreras after Barbor took a piece of chicken from the deli and ate it on his way out of the store. When the manager asked him to pay, the arrest report said Barbor replied, “F*** you” and said he didn’t have to pay because he was homeless.
“I don’t have any money,” Barbor was reported as telling the manager. The report says Garcia-Contreras asked Barbor to go with him to the office where he would issue a trespassing order. Reyes said the officer even offered to pay for the homeless man’s chicken. But Barbor walked away, ignoring the gesture.
Then, the police report said, when Garcia-Contreras tried to grab him, Barbor began “tensing up, pushing his hands away from the officer.” That’s when the officer redirected him to the floor and gave him a number of “distractionary strikes.”
The video doesn’t show all that. It shows Barbor with his hands up, backing up slightly when the officer pushes him onto a salad bar. Then, when Garcia-Contreras couldn’t get Barbor’s hands around his back, he hit him at least eight times in the back of his head.
“The guy was shoplifting,” Reyes said at the time. “He’s screaming ‘I’m not resisting’ but he’s obviously resisting. We’re allowed to use pain compliance,” he said.
This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 4:27 PM.
