Olympic athlete Fred Kerley was arrested Several videos of the encounter went viral on Thursday evening.
Bodycam footage showed the 2024 bronze medalist being tasered by the policewhile another angle showed an officer throwing punches while others restrained Kerley.
Kerley was taken into custody after police said he became agitated while trying to get to his car, which was near the location of an active police investigation.
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Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Fred Kerley (Image)
Bodycam footage obtained by TMZ Sports shows Kerley talking to police before turning to another officer, who placed a hand on Kerley’s chest, which Kerley swatted away. The officer then pushed Kerley with his other hand before chaos ensued.
Former Miami Marlins star Jazz Chisholm Jr., who now plays for the New York Yankees, criticized police for their actions.
“The Miami Beach Police Department is always looking for a way to get their hands on athletes! Sorry this happened to you Fred!” Chisholm posted on X.
Kerley is charged with assault on a police officer, corrections officer or firefighter; resisting an officer without violence; and disorderly conduct. He was released on his own initiative.
Fred Kerley (USA) in a Round 1 heat of the men’s 100 meters during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris at the Stade de France. (Andrew Nelles\/USA Today Sports)
Kerley’s arrest Thursday led to him facing domestic violence and theft charges stemming from an incident in May when police sent a probable cause alert to their system. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital, Kerley and his wife got into a verbal and then physical dispute in May, on his birthday, when Kerley’s wife was in contact with an “unknown person on Instagram.”
Kerley, the affidavit says, aggressively approached his wife and she hit him out of fear, according to the affidavit. Kerley then allegedly “grabbed the victim, pushed her to the ground, placed his arm around her neck and obstructed her breathing.”
The affidavit says Kerley then stole his wife’s cell phone after placing her in a second chokehold. Kerley was not present when authorities arrived and witnesses refused to cooperate, police said.
The woman Kerley was with on Thursday, Cleo Rahman, was apparently also arrested, and the two are believed to be dating. Rahman wrote “free my man” as the caption to the video of the officer punching Kerley.
“So when we were trying to get to our car, the police officer decided to push my friend and move him out of the way, and that caused a big fiasco,” Rahman, a rapper known as DJ Sky High Baby, told NBC. Miami. “We were just trying to get to the car. We weren’t trying to obstruct justice or anything like that. It’s just insane to the extent that it took four police officers to try to detain him. It was absolutely insane. “
Fred Kerley (USA) reacts after competing in the men’s 100 meters semi-final of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris at the Stade de France. (Yukihito Taguchi/USA Today Sports)
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Kerley won a bronze medal in the 100 meters in Paris this summer, while teammate Noah Lyles earned his first Olympic gold. Kerley won the 2022 World Cycling Championships and silver at the Tokyo Olympics, and he also has world championship titles in the 4x400m relay in 2019 and the 4x100m relay in 2023.
Kerley was part of the 4×100 meters team in Paris that was disqualified due to a failed transfer. Noah Lyles thought he was on that team but fell ill with COVID, which led to him falling short in the 200 meters, an event for which he was the heavy favorite.
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