Miami-Dade Police have identified the veteran officer who was placed on administrative duties after Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill was handcuffed and detained outside Hard Rock Stadium Sunday.
Officer Danny Torres, a 27-year veteran of the department, remains on administrative duties while an internal affairs investigation is completed, Miami-Dade Police said Tuesday.
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"While we believe the decision to place our client on leave was premature, we respect Director Daniels' call for a thorough review of the incident involving Mr. Tyreek Hill, a stance we fully support," attorneys for Torres said in a statement.
TYREEK HILL INCIDENT
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Police also released the two citations issued to Hill during the encounter, one for careless driving and the other for a seat belt violation.
"High rate [of] speed visual estimation 60 mph, no seat belt, high traff of pedestrians and veh," the citations read.
Police bodycamera footage released Monday showed an officer pulled Hill out of his sports car by his arm and forced him face-first to the ground after Hill put up the window of his car during a traffic stop before Sunday's game.
Torres is the officer who's wearing black arm sleeves in the video.
The video showed that the altercation between the Miami-Dade County officers and Hill escalated quickly. The officers cursed at Hill but he did not resist their physical force or strike at them. He did tell one officer, “Don't tell me what to do.” Six officers' body camera videos have been released.
Police Director Stephanie Davis said the tape would normally not be released while the investigation is ongoing, but she wanted to demonstrate the department's “commitment to transparency and maintaining public trust.”
In a CNN interview later Monday night, the 30-year-old NFL star said he was “embarrassed” and “shell-shocked” by the situation.
Video shows that two motorcycle officers went after Hill after he appeared to speed past them at in his McLaren sports car on the roadway entering Hard Rock Stadium in light traffic. They turned on their lights and pulled Hill over. One knocked on the driver’s window and told him to put it down, which Hill did and handed him his driver's license.
“Don’t knock on my window like that,” Hill told the officer repeatedly.
“I have to knock to let you know I am here,” the officer told Hill while repeatedly asking why the player didn't have his seatbelt on.
“Just give me my ticket, bro, so I can go. I am going to be late. Do what you gotta do,” Hill told the officer while putting his darkly tinted window back up.
“Keep your window down,” the officer told him, again tapping on the glass. Hill can still be seen inside.
Hill rolled the window down slightly and said, “Don't tell me what to do.” He put the window back up.
Hill told CNN's Kaitlan Collins he did roll his window back up, citing concern about drawing unwanted attention to himself.
“If I let my window down, people walking by, driving by, they’re going to notice that it’s me," Hill said. "And they're going to start taking pictures, and I didn’t want to create a scene at all. Like, I just really wanted to get the ticket and then go on about my way.”
The officer again told Hill to put his window back down or “I am going to get you out of the car. As a matter of fact, get out of the car.”
The officer then demanded Hill open the door. Another officer stepped up and said, “Get out of the car or I will break that … window," using an obscenity.
The door opened and the second officer reached in and grabbed Hill by the arm and the back of the head as the player said, “I am getting out."
Hill later guessed that he wasn't moving as quickly as the officers would have liked.
“I wasn’t moving fast because I've got injuries," said Hill, who started his ninth NFL season. “I got things that I go through. I play a physical sport.”
The second officer forced Hill face-first onto the ground. Three officers pulled Hill's arms behind his back as Hill yelled into his cellphone, “I am getting arrested Drew," talking to the Dolphins' director of security, Drew Brooks.
The officers handcuffed Hill and one put a knee in the middle of his back. “If we tell you to do something, do it.”
“Take me to jail, brother, do what you gotta do,” Hill replied.
“We are,” an officer said.
“You crazy,” Hill said to the officer.
The officers stood Hill up and walked him to the sidewalk. One officer told him to sit on the curb. Hill said to the officer he just had surgery on his knee.
An officer then jumped behind him and put a bar hold around Hill's upper chest or neck. He pulled Hill into a seating position.
“Chill, bro,” Hill told the officers.
At that point, teammate Jonnu Smith parked his SUV in front of Hill's car, got out and asked what was going on. The officers ordered Smith to get back in his vehicle and leave. They then told him they were going to give him a ticket for blocking the road.
Defensive tackle Calais Campbell also pulled up. He was told to leave and when he didn't, he was briefly handcuffed.
Hill and Campbell were eventually released and allowed to go into the stadium.
Hill was handcuffed and detained but released after he received the citations. Hours later, he caught an 80-yard touchdown pass that sparked the Dolphins' comeback win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Hill's attorneys have threatened to sue the department and officers.
Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, defended the officers' actions, saying that Hill “was briefly detained for officer safety, after driving in a manner in which he was putting himself and others in great risk of danger."
“Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers on the scene who, pursuant to policy and for their immediate safety, placed Mr. Hill in handcuffs. Mr. Hill, still uncooperative, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore redirected to the ground.”
Ignacio Alvarez, the attorney representing the officer put on leave, issued a statement Tuesday calling for his client's immediate reinstatement while respecting Daniels' call for an investigation.
The team, along with Hill's teammates and coaches, have come out in support of the wide receiver.
In a statement, the team said it has a strong relationship with the police department but was “saddened” by the altercation and called for “swift and strong action against the officers.”
“There are some officers who mistake their responsibility and commitment to serve with misguided power,” the team said.
