Family claims police roughed up cuffed teen
When 19-year-old Jafet Castro suffered a mental breakdown and began acting erratically last month, his family called the Opa-locka Police Department for help.
But the family claims that Opa-locka police instead beat Castro, dragged him down porch steps even though he was shackled and repeatedly shot him with a Taser stun gun as family members screamed. Part of the confrontation was captured on a bystander video provided to the Herald by the family’s lawyer, Michael Pizzi.
“There is no justification for beating a mentally ill 19-year-old with a baton,” said Pizzi. “After he was down, they continued to stun him.”
The video briefly shows Castro surrounded by police officers after he is dragged out. “It’s just electricity,” an officer tells someone who is complaining about treatment of the teen. “It looks bad ... it hurts for a second, but he keeps resisting, you understand?”
Relatives on Wednesday demanded the release of footage from body cameras worn by police officers during the Sept. 21 incident on the 2500 block of York Avenue. Castro was hospitalized for several days for an involuntary psychological examination, and was not criminally charged.
Opa-locka’s city manager, John Pate, issued a statement saying the incident was under investigation but also noting that officers had also been hurt in the encounter.
“The city is conducting an internal investigation initiated by the city as this incident involved the application of force that injured multiple officers while trying to control a noncompliant individual. Once we have concluded this investigation, more information will be released,” he wrote.
The police report describes Castro as resistant and out of control. It says he had taken a “bad synthetic narcotic,” was hallucinating and “did, unequivocally, fight with police officers for several minutes before he would finally be restrained.”
Lt. Sergio Perez, who the family says was the one who dragged Castro down the steps, denied mistreating the teenager when contacted by the Miami Herald.
“In short, he was removed from a slippery living room to be controlled,” Perez said. “The police were there to help him, bottom line.”
It’s the latest controversy involving the Opa-locka Police Department and a perpetually embattled city that remains under state supervision.
In mid-August, the city fired ex-Chief James Dobson, blaming him for a high crime rate and failing to reform the department. Dobson claimed that he was fired, in part, because he backed an officer who had issued a traffic ticket to the mayor’s cousin.
When Dobson was removed, Perez was promoted to lieutenant and temporarily placed in charge of running the administrative division of the department. Perez has a troubled history — he was fired, but later rehired, for his role in chasing a motorist who drove onto Interstate 95 and killed four tourists in a fiery wreck.
Castro works with his dad’s roofing business and is also studying to get his GED at Booker T. Washington High, according to the family.
Police said although he was hospitalized for the mental-health evaluation, the teen did not suffer any injuries. Pizzi, the lawyer, said he suffered minor injuries to his back and head.