A South Florida man is demanding a change in police procedure after he was arrested for a stabbing that he didn't commit.
A charge of aggravated battery with a weapon was dropped Monday by the state attorney's office in the March 31 stabbing outside of a sports bar in Miami.
The victim, who was stabbed in the face, told police Jorge Crusellas-Sotolongo was the one who attacked him. Crusellas-Sotolongo was arrested months later on September 28 while he was out with friends.
His attorney said he pleaded with officers that he was innocent. Crusellas-Sotolongo wasn't at the bar on the night of the stabbing. He even begged them to view surveillance footage from that night, which would prove his innocence.
"They had him at the police station for seven hours before transferring him to the main jail," said his attorney, Mark Eiglarsh. "In those seven hours, all they had to do was check surveillance."
After spending a day in jail and thousands of dollars in bail and legal fees, Crusellas-Sotolongo said change to police policy should be implemented, requiring officers to view available surveillance footage before arresting suspects.
NBC 6 reached out to City of Miami police, and Eiglarsh said he spoke to the captain of the division that governs policy and procedure at the department.
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"Surprisingly, he was very attentive to what we were saying," Eiglarsh said. "He thought, this should never have happened, and he's looking to change policy and procedure in the future. They're undergoing changes for bodycam footage, so they said, okay, we'll include surveillance under that."
