Miami Beach cop guilty of punching, kicking Maryland tourist during arrest after chase
A Miami Beach police officer on trial for using excessive force during the arrest of a Maryland tourist in a hotel lobby following a police chase was found guilty Wednesday of simple battery, a misdemeanor that could land him behind bars for up to a year.
Jurors took less than two hours to convict Officer Kevin Perez — the first officer to face trial following the July 2021 arrest of Dalonta Crudup — for kicking and punching Crudup as he lay face-down on the lobby floor of the Royal Palm Hotel with his hands behind his back.
Perez, suspended without pay since the videotaped and violent detainment of Crudup by almost two dozen officers gained international attention, left the courtroom quickly after the verdict without saying a word. The officer’s attorney Robert Buschel said he intends to file a motion asking the judge to dismiss the verdict before the April 21 sentencing.
“Naturally, we’re disappointed,” Buschel said. “We hoped the judge would have a direct verdict of not guilty. We’re going to ask the judge to do that as a matter of law.”
The motion could carry some weight. During the trial Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alberto Milian made the unusual move of dropping the charge from a felony, which could have carried a five-year sentence. The judge said the state failed to prove serious bodily injury to Crudup, a requirement for a felony charge. He also left the door open to dismissing the case entirely before the officer’s sentencing, telling jurors several times during the trial that under the law police could use any force they deem necessary to subdue a fleeing felon.
READ MORE: Unexpected twist: Judge lessens charge against Miami Beach cop in hotel lobby scrum
Crudup, 26, was a reluctant and far-from-perfect witness. He only agreed to testify after being subpoenaed and granted immunity for his upcoming trial on fleeing and eluding police during his arrest. During Perez’s trial, Milian granted the defense the right to discuss a pair of arrests of Crudup in Washington, D.C., and Kentucky that happened after his Miami Beach arrest and remain pending. He wasn’t in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
During closing arguments Wednesday, Assistant Miami-Dade State Attorney Joshua Novak said the case was about “the beating of an unarmed, handcuffed Black man.”
“This was premeditated violence and he delivered it on Dalonta Crudup,” Novak told the jurors.
Buschel, as he did during most of the trial, barely mentioned Perez and instead focused on Crudup, the claim by police that he hit an officer with his motor scooter, and the charges pending against him.
READ MORE: Trial set for Miami Beach cop charged with beating tourist who struck cop with scooter
“This, one hundred percent, was the lawful arrest of a violent criminal,” said Buschel, who went on to say, “Mr. Crudup enjoyed a nice week in Miami sponsored by the prosecution.”
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle called the jury verdict “a clear statement against the use of excessive force in making an arrest.”
The arrest
The five-day trial that ended in Perez’s conviction came about after a minor incident on a Collins Avenue street corner ballooned into an all-out chase for a man on a motor scooter and his eventual videotaped beating while surrounded by more than 20 cops.
Perez and four other officers were charged with taking part in the rough arrest.
Police said the whole thing began after Crudup drove his motor scooter over an officer’s foot. But state prosecutors argued it started a few minutes before that, when Crudup almost fell off his scooter on Collins Avenue and Ninth Street in front of three friends and three police officers. Crudup said when he got up, both friends and the police were laughing at him. He admitted to giving police at the scene the finger, then riding off.
Crudup drove off heading north toward the Royal Palm at 1545 Collins Ave. But before he got there, police on bicycles kept showing up as he made his way up an alley. One of the officers threw his bike forward attempting to stop Crudup. Another officer testified that during the chase Crudup road his scooter over his foot, though Crudup denied that when he took the stand during the trial.
As Crudup neared the hotel, a large white SUV forced him off the road. He abandoned the scooter and ran into the hotel elevator. But before the door closed an officer caught up to him, weapon drawn, and ordered him to the ground. Hotel surveillance video seemed to confirm that Crudup obeyed the police orders. Officers, though, testified he put up a fight as almost two dozen cops showed up and surrounded him.
While Crudup was on the ground, prosecutors said, Perez kicked him, picked him up by his arm while he was handcuffed and slammed his head to the ground, gashing his chin and creating a pool of blood.
During the rebuttal of Buschel’s closing argument, Assistant State Attorney Sandra Miller-Batiste told jurors the focus needed to be on the actions of the officer, not Crudup’s actions or history.
“He’s not the one who’s on trial. The person on trial is Kevin Perez. I urge you not to forget that,” she said.
Three other Miami Beach police officers have upcoming trials pending from Crudup’s arrest. A fourth, Sgt. Jose Perez, avoided a felony charge by retiring.
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 4:04 PM.
