17-Year-Old Arrested by Hollywood Police Says He Has “Massive” Head, Neck Pain

Hollywood Police's arrest of Alex Cabrera on Aug. 14 was caught on video

Flanked by his parents, 17-year-old Alex Cabrera seemed to grimace as he walked out of the Broward Juvenile Detention Center Wednesday.

"I’m glad to be out. I’m glad I'm going to get some real medical attention,” he said.

On Aug. 14 Hollywood Police arrested Cabrera – and the takedown was caught on video. Cabrera says they roughed him up for no reason.

As he was released from custody Wednesday, Cabrera wore an ankle monitor – and the same orange shirt he’d been wearing on the day of his arrest.

"When he punched me, he yanked me out of the car, and as he yanked me both sides of my shirt ripped,” Cabrera said of how one officer treated him, as he gestured to his shirt.

In the video, it appears that Hollywood Police punch the teenager and knee him in the head, and one officer keeps a knee on Cabrera’s neck most of the time, even though he appears to be handcuffed behind the back.

Cabrera said he blacked out as officers beat him on the head.

But he also recalled something he said they told him during the incident. “They said I'm lucky it wasn't nighttime,” Cabrera said.

Police said Cabrera led them on a high-speed chase, blowing through red lights and even ramming his car into a police car in reverse.

But, according to Cabrera, "The police cruiser hit me in the back as I was driving."

"I never put it in reverse, I kept going straight, the police cruiser hit me, and so he wouldn't get in trouble, he said I hit him,” Cabrera said.

He faces charges of possession of marijuana, aggravated battery on an officer and resisting an officer without violence.

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Cabrera’s parents Agustin Cabrera and Michelle Surgeon have filed a complaint with the Hollywood Police Department’s internal affairs unit, and police have said that internal affairs is investigating.

"I have massive head pain, I have massive neck pain. When I came in here I had two black eyes, my left eye couldn’t open, and my neck was so stiff I still have to turn my body to turn my head,” Alex Cabrera said.

He hasn’t seen the video of his arrest, but his parents have studied it.

"I can understand aggression, and you have the adrenaline going, and you yank him out of the car and you want to make sure you get your suspect in there. But you clearly see that it was beyond what should've happened,” said his mother, Surgeon.

Cabrera said of police: "Just like I was punished, they should be punished, they broke the law as well as I did."

When a reporter then asked him if he acknowledges that he broke the law, Cabrera responded, “You have to ask my lawyer."

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