What to Know
- Body worn camera video shows the moments Trayon Fussell was pulled over by Miami Police for a traffic stop in July 2019
- Things escalated when officers found out Fussell had a bench warrant for marijuana and theft charges
- Fussell is paralyzed from the waist down
Miami's civilian investigative panel is reviewing the arrest of a man with paraplegia last year during a traffic stop.
Body worn camera video shows the moments Trayon Fussell was pulled over by Miami Police for a traffic stop in July 2019.
Fussell was riding on the passenger side with two friends when officers asked them to step out to check the car.
Things escalated when officers found out Fussell had a bench warrant for marijuana and theft charges.
“When they found that out, they wanted to arrest me,” Fussell said. “When they wanted to arrest me, I was just telling them I don’t have my wheelchair.”
Fussell is paralyzed from the waist down. He was shot eight times when he was 15. One of the bullets landed in his spine.
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“Wheelchair bound from the waist down,” Fussell said.
The video shows officers instructing one of Fussell’s friends to carry him to the back of the squad car. He tells officers he needs to be handcuffed in front of him because of his condition.
That’s when things got intense. Trayon was taken out the car and put on the ground.
“I’m in a wheelchair,” Fussell said. “What can I do to you?”
At one point, one officer is seen punching the 24-year-old while he’s on the ground.
“Where I’m going?” Fussell asked. “What can I do? Then they left me on the ground after all that. You just left me there like a dog.”
A Miami Police Internal Affairs Investigation cleared the officers of any wrongdoing. But the city's civilian investigative panel says excessive force was used by one officer and improper procedure by others.
The CIP’s investigation also found that some officers muted their body cameras.
“They didn’t have to treat me like that,” Fussell said. “They didn’t have to do me like that. They didn’t have to throw me on the floor like that. They were just wrong. They were just wrong.”
NBC 6 reached out to Miami Police for a statement but have not gotten a response.
