An Opa-Locka police sergeant is now on leave without pay after getting in trouble with the law for the second time. NBC 6’s Heather Walker reports.
An Opa-locka police sergeant is now on leave without pay after getting in trouble with the law twice.
Sgt. Sergio Perez was charged with misdemeanor battery Tuesday in connection with the September 2020 encounter with Jasef Castro-Reyes.
Video showed Perez dragging the then-19-year-old with mental disabilities down a set of stairs.
“It’s always a somber time when a police chief and a city manager have to come before the media and talk about one of our officers who is charged with a crime,” said Opa-Locka Police Chief Scott Israel.
Perez was first arrested this past summer for tasing a fellow officer. The latest charges are for his actions during a mental health call for help two years ago.
But the victim’s family says instead of helping the teen, officers physically hurt him. Police body camera footage and cellphone video show officers punching and tasing the teen. Then Perez dragged the teen, who was bound, down a set of concrete stairs.
“We’ve changed what policies I thought were necessary,” Israel said. “But when you deal with a mentally ill individual, obviously, you want to be safe, but you want to be compassionate family would understand that this individual and his family are in a bad place right now.”
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He said he was not proud of the officer’s actions during the call.
Castro-Reyes said he is happy that Perez was charged, but hopes the other officers who responded are punished as well.
“We believe that this will be the beginning of hopefully accountability and justice, not only for Jasef and his family but for all residents of Miami-Dade County who believe that nobody is above the law,” said the victim’s lawyer, Michael Pizzi.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says it’s still an active investigation.
