Olympic sprinter pleads not guilty to pushing officer, resisting arrest in Miami Beach

Star United States sprinter Fred Kerley pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to allegations he pushed a police officer and resisted being arrested in Miami Beach last month. 

Kerley, 29, was arrested in January after the physical encounter with police which was captured on body camera.

On Tuesday, Miami-Dade State Attorneys announced they plan to prosecute Kerley for battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest charges. 

Miami-Dade Corrections

Miami-Dade Corrections

Miami Beach Police officials said officers were investigating an incident in the 100 block of 9th Street when Kerley approached the scene, expressing concerns about his vehicle, which was parked nearby.

Kerley's "demeanor became increasingly aggressive" and he was asked to leave the area but he refused, police said.

Police said Kerley took a "fighting stance" and refused to obey officers' commands, so they used a stun gun on him to take him into custody.

Police body camera footage released doesn't show the beginning of the encounter but shows Kerley, in a grey patterned hoodie, speaking with multiple officers as another officer approaches.

The officer places a hand on Kerley's chest and a struggle ensues as multiple officers wrestle him to the ground, the video shows.

The video then shows an officer hitting Kerley multiple times as he continues to struggle and a woman, believed to be Kerley's girlfriend, screams at the officers.

"Stop! Stop!" the woman repeatedly yells. "He's an athlete, please do not mess with him!"

The officers are heard telling Kerley to stop resisting for several moments before one officer says "I'm gonna Tase him" and the others back away.

The officer deploys the Taser on Kerley, who falls to the ground and is handcuffed as the woman continues yelling.

"Stop! Stop! Get the f------ Taser off of him!" she yells. "Stop! Stop! Stop! He didn't do anything!"

After several more moments, Kerley is heard speaking with the officers.

"Y'all weak … you're weak," he says. "You put your hands on me, hit me in the head."

Kerley's girlfriend was also arrested for resisting an officer without violence.

"We were simply just trying to get to the car, we weren't trying to obstruct justice or anything like that," DJ Sky High Baby, Kerley's girlfriend, told NBC6. "It's just crazy to the extent that it (took) four police officers to try to detain him."

Attorneys for Kerley said after the arrest that police overreacted. 

"No case that I’ve been involved in is there for one individual, four officers needed and discharging of a Taser. This is a complete overuse of any reasonable force by officers and it was a simple misunderstanding from the beginning that was escalated by the police," attorneys said.

Kerley, who won bronze in the 100m race at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and won silver in the event in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is out on bond. 

The Olympian also faces charges for allegedly strangling his wife and then robbing her cell phone. Kerley has denied all the allegations.