A South Florida family is demanding justice after video shows Miami-Dade Police elbow their son while he was handcuffed on the ground following a domestic violence incident inside a laundromat.
"He treated him like an animal. There was no reason for them to hit him that way," said Jose Diaz, who recorded his son's April 3 arrest with his cellphone. The video didn't capture what happened before the takedown.
According to an arrest report, authorities arrived at the laundromat in the Fontainebleau area following a domestic violence incident between 27-year-old Wilber Diaz and his wife. Police said surveillance video showed Diaz hitting his wife first.
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The man's father claimed that he tried to warn the officers that his son has mental health issues.
"I see that they had him on the floor, beating him," he said in Spanish. "I ran, made the recording and yelled at them to let him go, they already had him on the floor, dominated, face down and defenseless."
According to the arrest report, Wilber Diaz resisted while the officers tried to take him into custody. He was eventually taken down to the ground, where he kept his arms locked and failed to follow their loud verbal commands.
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The officer then used "his forearm to give the defendant distractionary strikes to the defendant's upper back," the arrest report stated. The cellphone video shows the officer elbowing him twice on the back and placing him in handcuffs.
Diaz's parents are heard yelling in the background, telling the officers to stop. Once handcuffed, police tried to get Diaz to stand up but he appeared to pass out. Later blood is seen on the floor next to his face.
Police said during the incident, Wilber Diaz got a cut on his eyebrow and was unresponsive but breathing. He was taken to the hospital.
In a statement sent to NBC6, the Miami-Dade Police Department said that "our Professional Compliance Office is investigating the matter, therefore, we cannot provide any information until its conclusion."
Wilber Diaz was booked into jail on charges of resisting an officer. He already posted bond.
