Body camera footage shows Broward deputies punching handcuffed man. Next, an investigation
A group of Broward deputies are being investigated after body camera footage shows them punching a handcuffed man during an arrest last summer.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office’s Internal Affairs Division has begun an administrative investigation about the arrest of Ka’Traughan Malchezadek Dones, a spokesperson told the Miami Herald Thursday. It is unclear when BSO started the probe. The incident will also be forwarded to the agency’s use of force review board.
Dones, 20, was outside a West Park house on July 15 when police responded to a call about a domestic dispute. Dones showed up to his girlfriend’s home after the couple got into an argument, according to an arrest report.
In the 13 minutes of body camera footage, Dones and officers who arrived at the home exchanged expletives.
The heated back-and-forth escalated into a scuffle, during which a deputy’s body camera fell to the ground. Multiple officers shuffled around the front lawn as Dones’ girlfriend screamed.
From the corner of the frame, deputies are seen throwing punches as Dones groans. Handcuffed when he gets up, a pack of officers rush over to subdue him.
One of the deputies picks up the camera and walks toward the squad of police cars, carrying a pair of handcuffs in his hand. A canister of pepper spray whizzes as it’s used in the background.
The camera is turned off. Then it’s turned on again, and the officer heads over to the deputies huddled over Dones.
Although Dones is already detained, one of the deputies whips out his handcuffs, folds them and lunges at Dones. A multiple-officer brawl breaks out again as expletives are thrown around.
The footage ends with Dones in the distance, still lying in front of the home.
In a police report, James A. Morejon, one of the deputies who responded to the scene, details the use of force in Dones’ arrest.
Dones, Morejon said, pulled his arms away from him and pushed him to evade being arrested.
“In an attempt to have Dones comply I struck him with a closed fist to the left side of his face,” Morejon said in the report.
But Dones broke free and ignored commands, Morejon said. Deputies pepper-sprayed him, and he continued to pull away while on the ground.
“I continued to deliver multiple closed fists strikes to Dones until I was able to secure his arms and place him in handcuffs,” Morejon said in the report.
Morejon doesn’t mention any use of force after Dones is handcuffed, instead saying to “see deputies supplement for further” information.
The Miami Herald has yet to obtain reports from any other deputy.
In a December letter to Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony, public defender Gordon Weekes denounced deputies’ use of “handcuffs in a “brass-knuckles” fashion” during Dones’ arrest.
“Using handcuffs as a weapon to bludgeon an already subdued individual is unacceptable use of force,” Weekes said. “I urge you to thoroughly investigate this use of force and take immediate action to address the misbehavior of the deputies involved.”
A BSO spokesperson said the deputies involved in the arrest remain on duty.
This story was originally published January 5, 2023 at 8:26 PM.
