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Video Shows Miami-Dade Police Detective Slapping Handcuffed Suspect

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A Miami-Dade police detective has been suspended after surveillance video shows him slapping a handcuffed suspect.

It happened back in March of this year, when Brayn Crespo, 18, was being led out of his Allapattah residence in handcuffs after he was arrested for allegedly stealing airbags from cars.

The video shows several officers inside the living room of the house, then Crespo appears shirtless as he is being led out of the house.

Just as Crespo is almost out the door, the video shows Miami-Dade Police Sgt. Manuel Regueiro slap Crespo's face with his left hand.

Crespo was charged at the time with conspiring to deal in stolen property.

Regueiro was relieved of duty, pending the outcome of the investigation.

"As soon as he saw Brayn, he gave him a left hook for no reason while he was helpless with arms behind his back," said Cam Cornish, attorney for Crespo.

"This officer did this because he wanted to, he did it because he could and he did it believing he would get away with it."

The Miam-Dade police department director issued this statement:

"The actions depicted in the video are extremely disturbing and in no way represent the core values of our agency. That is why immediately upon learning of the video, we launched a criminal internal investigation into the matter in conjunction with the Miami-Dade state attorney's office." "...we hold ourselves accountable and any officers that violate the public's trust will face the consequences of their actions."

Cornish said the video almost never became public because the officers took a lithium battery, thinking it was the video recorder's hard drive.

"We ended up filing a civil rights case against the officer, the county, possibly the state of Florida," said Cornish.

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