FMU rape suspect assaults cop, police say
The man accused of raping a Florida Memorial University student is facing additional charges for trying to grab a detective’s butt on Wednesday while he was being taken to jail, police said.
Steven Devon Mason Rivers, 30, assaulted a student on campus Sunday morning at 15800 NW 42nd Ave. in Miami Gardens, according to an arrest affidavit.
Surveillance footage shared by the Miami Gardens Police Department appeared to show a man jumping over a wall to get on to campus. The Opa-locka Police Department later apprehended Rivers before turning him over to Miami Gardens police, according to Miami Herald news partner CBS News Miami.
“Rivers, talk to me for a second. You will be OK,” one officer said in a footage obtained by CBS News Miami. Moments later, officers are heard saying, “Get your hands out of your pocket. You will be OK. Stop right there. Show me your hands,” and “Get on the ground for us. You will be OK. Put your hands out.”
READ MORE: Man arrested for raping Florida Memorial University student, police say
When Miami Gardens police were escorting Rivers on Wednesday, he “aggressively reached out” and forcefully tried to grab the lead detective’s buttocks, the affidavit said. An officer restricted his movements and braced him against a railing.
“Mr. Rivers spontaneously chuckled as he uttered, ‘Good Catch, but I don’t give a f---,’ ” the affidavit said.
He was taken to Miami-Dade’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He was being held Thursday on over a $510,000 bond, jail records show.
Rivers is accused of attempted sexual battery causing no serious personal injury, battery of a police officer and two counts of resisting an officer without violence to person in connection with the Wednesday incident. Rivers is also facing one count of sexual battery and one count of robbery by sudden snatching in connection with the FMU rape.
Cameron Gittler, who was listed as his public defender, did not respond Thursday to a request for comments.