Caught on Camera

3 Arrested, Officer Injured in El Portal School Brawl Caught on Camera

Cellphone video shows Miami-Dade Schools Police attempting to take a teen into custody after an alleged fight at school earlier in the day

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A mother alleges her teen daughter was roughly arrested during a fight Thursday near a middle school in El Portal that resulted in an officer getting struck in the face.

Miami-Dade Police said officers responded to Horace Mann Middle School after 4 p.m. to assist a Miami-Dade Schools Police officer who got injured while taking the teen into custody.

During the incident, two women began hitting the officer as he tried to detain the teen, police said. He was treated for a facial injury.

Police said another victim was also injured in the face during the fight. No one was taken to the hospital.

The women and teenager were arrested and will be charged, police said.

Cellphone video given to NBC 6 by a parent shows the officer taking a 13-year-old girl into custody after an alleged fight at school earlier in the day, then grabbing the girl after she allegedly batters him.

Seconds later, another officer is seen pulling that same teen to the ground.

The teen’s mother, Jennifer Varela, called it a rough arrest.

"And he was hitting my daughter, which I had video that he was hitting my daughter," she said. "My daughter's only 13. How do you think I feel when my kid getting hit?"

Varela said her daughter called her family members to say she was threatened by other students at school. So her relatives rushed to the scene.

"My sister-in-law called me because my daughter told her that she was scared they were going to hit her," Varela said. "They were going to jump her."

The teen’s relatives said during the scuffle, one of the officers shoved a girl caught in the melee and was knocked unconscious. Before she’s on the ground unconscious, she’s seen grabbing an officer’s arm.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools said in a statement that they were aware of the altercation and that Miami-Dade Schools Police responded to the scene.

"During their attempt to assist, the officer was battered by a combatant," their statement said in part.

The district and Miami-Dade Police have not specifically responded to a request for comment on the teen being allegedly shoved.

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