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Son Of Cop Alleges Severe Beating By Miami-Dade Police

MIAMI (CBS4) - The mother of a 26-year-old South Florida man says her son was beaten in police custody.  Miami Dade Police arrested Rodgerick Everett Jr. Tuesday evening.

In his mugshot, Everett's face appears scraped and bruised, his lip is swollen, and he's wearing a cervical collar. His lawyer, Juan Garcia claims his client has the following injuries,

"Our understanding is he suffered from a broken C-7 vertebrae in his neck and abrasions to the right side of his face and his right foot."

According to arresting documents, police pulled over a car Everett was riding in Tuesday evening after they allegedly saw someone in the car buying narcotics.

Garcia said the police, "approached with weapons drawn they pull the client out.  He immediately surrenders to police.  He was put in handcuffs -- those plastic handcuffs -- and through the course of the police investigation my client is beaten pretty severely."

According to the arrest report: when Everett got out of the car, he had a plastic baggie sticking out of his right sock and police found suspected cocaine and marijuana.

After the arrest, the report says Everett was transported to a command post. The report does not address Everett's injuries, but does say he "became belligerent and struck his head multiple times on the metal cage within the marked police vehicle"

"They want us to believe he broke his neck in the rear of the car by being handcuffed. It's impossible to break your neck if you're in handcuffs," Everett's mother, Karen Everett said. "They say he beat his head against the grill.. But there's no way for him to break his neck."

Everett's lawyer said his client had a different explanation for the injuries.

"The feet were being drug by police because he was barefoot at the time and the face was actual beating by the police," said Everett.

Detective Roy Rutland with Miami Dade Police says the incident is under investigation.

"Our professional compliance bureau is taking a look at this as we do with all allegations.  At the same time this is not his first brush with the law.  I have seven pages of charges from this same subject," said Rutland, referring to Everett's arrest history. "There's no question we have to protect somebody we have in our custody at the same time we have the responsibility of taking violent criminals off the street."

In this incident, Everett is charged with purchase and possession of both cocaine and marijuana, criminal mischief and resisting arrest without violence.

Everett's father, who has been in South Florida law enforcement for the past 16 years told us he has no argument with his son's arrest or the charges against him, but he doesn't think his son deserved to be injured during an arrest.

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