An Opa-locka Police sergeant breathed a sigh of relief Thursday when a jury found him not guilty in a 2020 case where he was accused of punching a teen.
The verdict came after the jury deliberated for seven hours.
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WATCH HERE"I feel vindicated," Sgt. Sergio Perez, 37, told NBC6 outside the courthouse.
Perez was accused of punching then-19-year-old Jasef Castro-Reyes during a September 2020 encounter.
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Body camera footage showed the scuffle that happened after family members called police to report that Castro-Reyes was acting erratic and violent.
"There isn't a single use of force that looks good, but you have to get the story and context behind it to understand what is it that really occurred there," Perez said. "And I'm really grateful to God first but also to that jury that was able to look at the evidence objectively and come to the same conclusion."
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Testifying in his own defense Wednesday, Perez said Castro-Reyes threatened the officers.
"I'm not going to say he's not serious when he says he's going to kill us, especially when he's fighting us and we don't have control over him. I’m going to take that serious enough until he’s handcuffed and secure," Perez said at the time.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement found Perez intentionally struck Castro-Reyes and dragged him by his feet, causing him to hit his head on concrete steps.
On the stand Wednesday, Perez said he was trying to de-escalate the situation.
"You felt it was legal reasonable means to drag this person out the door before making sure his head is secure correct?" he was asked.
"Yes, that’s what brought this event to its end, the fact that we took him outside," Perez responded.
Perez was demoted from lieutenant to sergeant within a year of the incident because it was the second battery charge filed against him within a year.
The initial case, which involved Perez allegedly firing a Taser at a co-worker, was dropped in January. Now a jury ruled in his favor in this second case.
"It's a very stressful process when you know you are innocent, say you are innocent from the beginning, and it's been very stressful for my family and children and I'm happy that this finally comes to an end today," he said.
Castro-Reyes' family currently has a civil lawsuit pending against the City of Opa-locka and the police department.
Perez plans to continue to work as a law enforcement officer. He's been an officer for nearly 20 years.
