Exclusive: Cell Phone Video Shows N. Miami Beach Officer Allegedly Beating Man
NORTH MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) - A South Florida man wants the North Miami Beach Police Department to launch an internal affairs investigation after he said he was viciously beaten at the hands of an officer.
The beating was captured on cell phone video outside the controversial gay strip club Swinging Richards on Biscayne Blvd. and NE 174 Street last Thursday around midnight when the altercation occurred.
The video, obtained exclusively by CBS 4 News, shows a man wearing a police uniform striking another man on the ground.
Tim Twilligear said he was the man being beaten.
"I was just screaming, 'Why are you beating me?' And then he'd say 'Stop resisting' and he'd hit me again," Twilligear told CBS 4's Lauren Pastrana.
Twilligear said he was leaving the club when he got into a tense verbal exchange with an employee.
He said he extended his arms to keep them man away from him, but the employee shoved him.
According to the arrest affidavit, Twilligear put both his hands on the man's chest and pushed him despite warnings to leave.
The report said, and Twilligear confirmed, the officer deployed a taser.
Despite the debilitating shock, Twilligear said he tried to leave, but before he could drive off, he claims out-of-control cops smashed his car windows and viciously beat him.
The affidavit states Twilligear "exited the vehicle walking toward officers with his hands balled up."
Twilligear said an officer proceeded to brutally beat him.
"Someone grabbed me by my head," Twilligear said. "I was punched in the head. I have a big knot right here."
As the beating unfolded, Twilligear's friend, Victor, started rolling on his cell phone camera.
Victor, who did not want to give his last name or show his face for fear of retaliation, said the cop tried to take his cell phone away.
When he denied, Victor said he was arrested and accused of resisting arrest.
"I don't think it was necessary to go that far," Victor told CBS 4's Lauren Pastrana.
Twilligear was also taken to jail, charged with resisting arrest, both with and without violence, and two counts of simple battery.
But Twilligear said he was not resisting arrest, but rather trying to figure out what he was being arrested for.
Twilligear and his attorney Michael Grieco went to the police department to file a complaint Monday afternoon.
"I'm livid over it," Michael Grieco said. "I'm going to do everything in my power to protect my client to make sure justice is served."
A spokesperson for the police department said the formal complaint paperwork has not been filed as of Monday night and no internal affairs investigation has been opened at this time.
Twilligear's attorney plans to file the investigative affidavit Tuesday.
