Cop videotaped in rough arrest also killed armed-robber suspect 2 weeks ago
The Miami police officer who put a headlock on an unarmed Black man during a rough arrest caught on videotape last weekend is also one of the two officers who shot and killed a robbery suspect two weeks ago in a trailer park.
Detective Mario Sevilla, 32, a six-year veteran in Miami who works in the elite Tactical Robbery Unit, was given a week off after the deadly shooting, which is standard department policy. He returned to work last week. Acting Police Chief Ron Papier said Sevilla was due a few days off after the controversial arrest on Sunday night and is expected to return to work Wednesday.
“We will determine his status then,” Papier said “It hasn’t been decided yet.”
Both the shooting and the arrest of Leskeil Richards, who escaped from custody Monday evening at Jackson Memorial Hospital, are under internal review, Papier said.
Richards, meanwhile, remains at large. WPLG Channel 10 aired a Facetime call between Richards and a family member that the station, which first aired the arrest video, said took place some time after he escaped. During the call, the 25-year-old said he’s “in fear for my life.”
When a family member said she understood his fear, “but I need you to turn yourself in,” Richards responded, “They killing too much Black people. They killing people for no reason.”
On Tuesday, Miami Congresswoman Frederica Wilson weighed in the arrest tactics, saying that perhaps the lifting of five years of oversight of Miami police by the U.S. Department of Justice just two weeks ago, was premature. Wilson was key to the 2016 oversight agreement, which was precipitated by a string of deadly encounters between Miami police and mostly Black men dating back more than a decade.
“We will not allow our beautiful city to return to the day when Black men were viewed as caricatures, beaten, and murdered by the police. A thorough investigation is required and swift firings and punishments must follow,” Wilson, a Democrat, said in a prepared text.
But Tommy Reyes, president of Miami’s Fraternal Order of Police, defended Sevilla’s actions, noting that he works in a pro-active unit that often comes into contact with hardened criminals. Reyes cautioned that the facts surrounding both incidents need to come out before anyone passes judgment.
“His team puts themselves in harms way every day looking for violent offenders,” said the union president. “When violent subjects decide they aren’t going to jail, these officers can’t just walk away. They have a job to do.”
Last month, Sevilla and his partner spotted Juan Carlos Pena-Noda wandering around the Paradise Mobile Home Trailer Park and confronted him. Pena-Noda was wanted for a string of at least six recent armed robberies, including two earlier on the day he was found. Police said he had become more emboldened after each stick-up.
When Pena-Noda drew a weapon, police said, the two Miami cops tailing him opened fire, killing him on the spot. Ironically, the deadly police shooting came on the same day the DOJ announced it had ended its five years of Miami police oversight.
Last week Sevilla returned to work. On Sunday, during an overtime shift in Liberty City, he was videotaped arresting Richards during a traffic stop near the intersection of Northwest 62nd Street and 18th Avenue. It was recorded on a woman’s cellphone around 5 p.m. Sunday.
Only after the arrest did police learn that Richards was wanted on an open arrest warrant in Broward County for removing an ankle monitor and ignoring a residency requirement after convictions on charges that included robbery, battery and carrying a concealed weapon.
According to Richards’ arrest form, Sevilla spotted him and some friends in a black Land Rover driving in the opposite direction on Northwest 62nd Street. The officer said the vehicle’s windows were open and a passenger did not have a seat belt on. He pulled the Rover over after, Sevilla said, it didn’t come to a full stop at a red light.
After ordering Richards, clad only in shorts and socks, out of the Land Rover and patting him down, Sevilla said he used force to take him to the ground because he believed Richards was going to try to escape. Cellphone video seems to show Sevilla throw several punches towards Richards’ head, then place him in a headlock as he’s pinned to the ground. The vehicle was not stolen and no weapons were found.
Miami police banned neck restraints decades ago unless they’re used to save a life and the officer believes he may have to kill a suspect to do so.
The decision was made after a man detained during a traffic stop and grappling with officers went into a coma and later died. Sevilla said in his report and Papier said Monday that it was clear that Richards was resisting being detained. Sevilla also said Richards at first lied about his identity, but police were able to identify him using new fingerprint technology.
Richards legal problems increased after police say he claimed to suffer a seizure and was taken to Jackson on Monday. He somehow managed to escape from police restraints on the way, outrun a cop and avoid a perimeter set up by police. Papier said that besides piling up charges for himself, anyone willingly giving shelter to Richards could be charged with a crime.
“You have to know you’re harboring a fugitive,” he said.
Flags will fly at halfstaff Wednesday at state and local government buildings throughout Florida to honor people who have died of COVID-19.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday ordered flags to be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset Wednesday.
The move came almost exactly a year after DeSantis declared a public health emergency on March 1, 2020, because of the pandemic. As of a Tuesday count, 31,135 Florida residents and 561 non-residents had died because of COVID-19, according to the state Department of Health website.