Police report: Arrested Opa-locka cop beat wife and kids for years
An Opa-locka police sergeant arrested Tuesday night on three domesticabuse charges battered and threatened to kill family members for almost a decade, police said on Wednesday.
The wife of Johane Hendrik Taylor told police that several times dating back to 2014 her husband punched her, even breaking a rib, and tried to drag her outside while she was unconscious. Another time, the woman’s mother told police, she saw Taylor hit one of her grandchildren over the head with a vacuum cleaner.
“The mother has alleged that the defendant has abused the children since the oldest child was three years of age and she is currently 13 years of age,” the arresting officer in Miramar wrote in his report.
Taylor, 36, is the youngest son of former Opalocka Mayor Myra Taylor and the brother of current Mayor John Taylor.
On Tuesday evening, Miramar Police were waiting for Johane Taylor outside his home when he returned and took him into custody. He was charged with three felonies — aggravated child abuse, felony battery and aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony. He was taken to Broward County’s Main Jail, where he remained late Wednesday morning. It wasn’t immediately clear if Taylor had hired an attorney.
The officer’s status in Opa-locka wasn’t immediately clear. His brother and mother couldn’t be immediately reached. No one answered repeated phone calls to Opa-locka Police Chief Scott Israel’s office. A city receptionist said no one was available to discuss the arrests, saying they were all in meetings.
The only indication that the city was aware of the sergeant’s arrest was an internal memo sent to city leaders and obtained by the Miami Herald. It did not name Taylor but said an officer had been arrested and charged with domestic aggravated battery, domestic aggravated assault and child abuse. And that the city should prepare for a “significant amount of media coverage of the arrest.”
Taylor has been in the news before. A Miami Herald story from 2014 explained how he was hired as an officer in Opalocka despite twice failing his police exam and having a criminal past involving domestic battery. He resigned in 2013 when it was discovered that the police department failed to do a thorough background check. He was rehired about two years later. Chief Israel recently promoted him to sergeant.
Taylor’s wife also told police that her husband placed a firearm against her head saying he
“should kill her right now.” After putting the gun away, she told police Taylor threw her on the couch and began beating her.
She also told police that he became particularly violent one day last May when she told him she wanted out of the marriage. She said he punched her in the head and neck and that she passed out as he tried to drag her outside. When paramedics arrived, she said she told them she fell while mopping. She also said she believed her husband broke one of her ribs, but she chose to let it heal naturally instead of seeing a doctor.
According to Taylor’s arrest report, his wife also told police that he struck the children repeatedly over the years, most often with a belt that left welts on their legs and buttocks, parts of their body that teachers wouldn’t see. She claimed her husband coached the kids, ages 7, 10 and 13, on how to deal with teachers.