Officer bitten, suspect charged

A court hearing turned chaotic after a man bit the arm of a Miami-Dade police officer, news organizations are reporting.

The incident happened Monday in a courtroom at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building near Miami’s Civic Center.

A judge had just ordered Godel Leveille to be taken into custody based on an arrest warrant, WFOR-Ch. 4 reported. The warrant stemmed from a May 2016 arrest accusing Leveille of battery on law enforcement officers, court records show.

Obviously irritated, Leveille, 29, said “This isn’t justice,” and first punched one approaching officer in the head and then, during a struggle, bit another officer’s left forearm, according to WPLG-Ch. 10.

Miami-Dade police said the officer who was bitten was taken to a hospital to be treated. Miami-Dade police spokesman Argemis Colome said the officer suffered a “severe injury.”

Newscast video showed Leveille, with a net mask over his face to prevent him from biting or spitting, surrounded by several officers taking him out of the justice building and placing him inside a police car.

Jonathan Perdomo told WFOR that he witnessed what happened in Courtroom 2-7 when the officer, identified by the station as Anthony Pando, was bitten. “He took a chunk of meat out of his right or left hand,” Perdomo told the station.

Along with his original charges, Leveille was booked into jail on additional charges that included aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence and disorderly conduct, Miami-Dade court records show.

He is being held without bond.