Drivers’ videos show police, Tyreek Hill’s actions during Hard Rock Stadium traffic stop
UPDATE: Miami-Dade cops release body-cam footage after Tyreek Hill cuffed before game.
A Miami-Dade police officer gave Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill less than a second to comply with a warning about keeping his window down before ordering him out of his car during a traffic stop, then cursed at Hill as the Dolphins wide receiver was handcuffed while having a knee in his back.
That’s according to cellphone footage shot by passing drivers outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens before Sunday’s Dolphins season-opening 20-17 win against Jacksonville.
The Herald reviewed three videos posted on social media and pieced together a timeline of the moments leading up to Hill being detained.
The Miami-Dade Police Department is now investigating how the traffic stop escalated. One of the four officers involved was placed on administrative duty.
READ MORE: Officers investigated after Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill detained before season opener
Body camera footage was the reason the officer was temporarily reassigned, MDPD Director Stephanie Daniels said Monday. Monday evening, the department released 105 minutes of bodycam footage.
Hill was detained in the trafffc stop and received two traffic citations, according to the South Florida Police Benevolent Association. An ESPN report said the citations were for careless driving and a seatbelt violation.
The Miami-Dade Police Department has not released the citations.
READ MORE: Bodycam footage led police director to reassign officer in Tyreek Hill detention
In a minute-long video posted by real estate broker Dylan Vega to Instagram around 10:30 a.m. Sunday, two and a half hours before the Dolphins’ season opener, the officer tells Hill, “Hey, keep your window down. Keep your window down or I’m going to get you out of the car.”
Less than a second later, he says: “As a matter of fact, get out of the car. Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Get out of the car right now. We’re not playing this game. Get out.”
During the succession of “Get out of the car” orders, a second officer walks up and says something about, “break that freaking window,” but it’s unclear exactly what he said.
READ MORE: Tyreek Hill’s lawyers mull legal action after Dolphins star handcuffed by cops: agent
Another video taken by Vega shows one of the officers shouting at Hill, who remains pinned on the ground.
“We tell you to do [something or nothing], you do it, you understand?” the officer says. “Not what you want, but what we tell you.”
“You’re a little f------ confused.”
Contrary to claims posted on social media, it doesn’t appear from the audio analyzed by the Herald that any of the officers called Hill “boy.”
Another video making the social media rounds shows Hill standing near the sidewalk, handcuffed, then forced to a sitting or kneeling position by an officer approaching from behind.
Julius B. Collins, Hill’s Atlanta attorney, said in a statement Monday to the Herald that the incident was the result of “overzealous officers attempting to impose their authority” on Hill.
Miami Herald staff writer Doug Hanks contributed to this report
This story was originally published September 9, 2024 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Drivers’ videos show police, Tyreek Hill’s actions during Hard Rock Stadium traffic stop."
