Tyreek Hill sat on the curb in handcuffs as fans in Miami Dolphins gear walked by, some turning their heads to do double takes at the team’s star wide receiver who was detained by officers after allegedly speeding just hours before the season opener Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami-Dade Police released body-worn camera video Monday night of Hill being forcefully removed from his vehicle, brought to the ground and handcuffed by officers Sunday morning after he closed his window during the traffic stop, disobeying an officer’s orders. After the about 30-minute encounter, Hill was cited for allegedly speeding and not wearing a seatbelt.
The police officers who briefly detained Hill were “overzealous” during the encounter, his lawyer said Monday afternoon, while the position of the city’s police union was that Hill was “uncooperative.”
Miami-Dade Police have not released the officers’ names. One officer has been placed on administrative duty.
“At no point in time did Mr. Hill pose a threat to these officers,” said Atlanta attorney Julius Collins, who blamed the confrontation on “overzealous officers attempting to impose their authority on Mr. Hill because they were not pleased with how fast he complied with their request and that Mr. Hill did not roll down his window far enough to their liking.”
Collins’ written statement was issued hours after the city’s police union backed the officers, blaming Hill for not cooperating with a traffic stop a short distance from the stadium.
“Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers on scene who, pursuant to policy and for their immediate safety, placed Mr. Hill in handcuffs,” said South Florida Police Benevolent Association President Steadman Stahl.
“Mr. Hill, still uncooperative, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore redirected to the ground,” he said. “While we are confident in the actions that led to the stop, we will wait for all of the facts to come out, along with any explanation Mr. Hill may have for his actions that initiated this unfortunate incident.”
According to Hill’s lawyer, the popular wide receiver did cooperate, only to have one of the officers threaten to “break that [expletive] window” if they had to.
Four officers on motorcycles were first at the scene Sunday afternoon, but many more arrived throughout the half hour Hill was detained. Video showed Hill’s black McLaren rush by two of the officers who were waiting on the road, watching traffic. They followed, and Hill pulled over.
An officer initially approached Hill’s McLaren and asked why he was not wearing a seatbelt, shown in part of the more than an hour of video Miami-Dade Police released Monday night.
“Don’t knock on my window like that,” Hill said to the officer as he opened the window and handed the officer his identification.
Hill repeatedly told the officer not to knock on his window “like that.”
“I have to knock to let you know I’m here,” the officer said.
“Give me my ticket, bro, so I can go,” Hill said. “I’m finna be late … Do what you gotta do.”
Hill then closed his window, the video showed. The officer ordered him to keep it down and knocked against the glass. For several seconds after the officer knocked, Hill did not open the window. The officer knocked again, pointed downward and said to keep the window down.
Hill then cracked the window and said, “Don’t tell me what — ” as the officer again shouted at him, cutting him off.
“As a matter of fact, get out of the car,” the officer told Hill. Another officer in the background said something about him breaking “that freakin’ window” as the first officer repeatedly told Hill to get out. Hill, still inside, said he was going to comply.
One officer then pulled open Hill’s door while shouting, “Get out!” and yanked Hill out of the car. The officer appeared to place his hand on the back of Hill’s neck as he pulled him outside, repeatedly shouting for him to “get out.”
“Damn!” Hill said as he was removed from the car.
The second officer forced Hill face first onto the ground. The officers forced Hill’s arms behind his back as Hill yelled into his cellphone, “I am getting arrested, Drew.” It was unclear if he was talking to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, or the team’s director of security, Drew Brooks. Both soon showed up at the scene.
“When we tell you to do something, you do it,” an officer said as Hill was handcuffed. “You understand? You understand? Not what you want, but what we tell you! You’re a little f—— confused.”
Hill said for them to take him to jail.
“We are,” the officer said. “We will.”
“Good, good, bruh,” Hill said.
“It is good,” the officer said.
The Miami Dolphins released a statement late Monday night calling the officers’ actions “overly aggressive and violent.”
“We are proud to have a strong and positive relationship with the Miami-Dade Police Department and other law enforcement agencies and recognize that the vast majority of officers do serve the community with the utmost character and desire to protect all citizens,” the statement said, in part.
“However, as is on full display in the videos released tonight, there are some officers who mistake their responsibility and commitment to serve with misguided power. While we commend MDPD for taking the right and necessary action to quickly release this footage, we also urge them to take equally swift and strong action against the officers who engaged in such despicable behavior.”
Shortly after Hill was handcuffed and sat on the curb of the sidewalk, a man hanging out of the passenger’s side window of a car, phone in hand recording, asked one of the officers, “You know who he is, right?”
“I don’t care!” the officer responded. “I don’t care who he is!”
After Hill was handcuffed and sat on the curb of the sidewalk, one of the officers stood by him, holding Hill’s shoulder. Hill repeatedly mentioned his knee and tendinitis and said that the officer was holding his shoulder too tightly throughout the encounter.
“Y’all good today or what?” Hill asked the officer who was standing next to him at one point.
“We great, bro” the officer replied.
“Oh good, I’m glad y’all having a great day, though,” Hill said.
Hill continued to move around while sitting, apparently trying to get the officer to loosen his grip on his shoulder. The officer told Hill to stop moving.
“I promise I ain’t gone run, bro,” Hill said. “I’m wanted in 50 states already.”
A few moments later, the officer apparently relaxed his grip on Hill, prompting gratitude from Hill.
“Thank you. I appreciate that, for letting me go. That’s all I wanted. That’s all I wanted. You squeezing me too tight,” he said.
“You’re a muscular dude …” the officer said.
“You don’t tell me what to do. You don’t tell me what to do,” Hill told him.
People wearing Dolphins merchandise continued to walk by while Hill sat and lay on the sidewalk, some recording on their cellphones.
“Do you have anything on you by the way?” the officer asked Hill later.
“Like what!?” Hill said.
“I’m asking, do you have anything on you?” the officer asked.
“Like what!?” Hill repeated.
“Keys, phone, any other phones?”
“I got a weapon on me. A big one,” Hill said.
The officer turned to another at the scene a few seconds later and said, “I don’t know if he wants to play games, but he say he has a big weapon on him.”
“It’s my tattoo. I got a 9 on me. I got a tattoo of a 9 on me,” Hill said.
The officer then made Hill sit up. He continued to complain of tendinitis in his knee. Another officer told Hill he, too, suffered from tendinitis.
“You ain’t no athlete though. You ain’t no athlete though,” Hill said.
At one point while Hill was detained, someone was heard shouting, “The cheetah!” from the direction of the main road where people drove by.
Hill’s teammate Calais Campbell was also at the scene and briefly handcuffed. Campbell got out of his car, trying to ask what was happening with Hill. The video showed an officer handcuffing Campbell after ordering him to move away from the scene.
“Calais, I’m a big fan,” said a man walking by in a Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence jersey. A handcuffed Campbell smiled and thanked him.
Campbell was not handcuffed for long before the officer unlocked them. Campbell did not receive a citation.
Campbell said he tried to de-escalate the situation. He said he got out of his car with his hands up above his head and approached the scene, informing officers that he was a friend of Hill’s. He remained at the scene to “support” Hill. Police later placed him in handcuffs for “disobeying a direct order” by being too close.
Campbell said tight end Jonnu Smith and later receiver Odell Beckham Jr. were also there to support Hill, who repeated to them, “Don’t leave me.”
After Sunday’s comeback victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Hill said he was at a loss as to why he was handcuffed when he was stopped for alleged speeding and reckless driving on his way to the stadium.
“I have no idea, for real,’’ he said. “No idea. No idea, man. It’s crazy. No idea. I wasn’t disrespectful, because my mom didn’t raise me that way. Didn’t cuss. Didn’t do none of that. So like I said, I’m still trying to figure that out.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at [email protected] or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Threads.net @rafael.olmeda
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