REALITY TV
TV
MOVIES
MUSIC
CELEBRITY
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use Accuracy & Fairness Corrections & Clarifications Ethics Code Your Ad Choices
© MEAWW All rights reserved
MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CRIME & JUSTICE

Florida cop who cold-cocked Black man cleared of wrongdoing, 'serious warnings' for officers who filmed incident

In its ruling, internal affairs and prosecutors determined that officer Adriel Dominguez had used the proper amount of force after being 'threatened' by the patron
PUBLISHED AUG 5, 2020
(Screenshot/YouTube)
(Screenshot/YouTube)

MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: A Miami Beach police officer who was filmed cold-cocking a restaurant patron has been cleared of any wrongdoing by internal affairs and state prosecutors, newly-released documents have revealed.

Officer Adriel Dominguez had hit national headlines after a video filmed at the Pelican Hotel just north of Eighth Street on Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, showed him punching Lowell Poitier Jr., seemingly without provocation.

The Miami Herald reported that the altercation unfolded after Dominguez and another Miami Beach police officer, Alfredo Garcia, had responded to the restaurant following a report from its manager, who complained that Poitier was disturbing other patrons.

An internal affairs investigation into the incident stated that, following their arrival, Dominguez and Garcia spoke to the manager and asked Poitier, then 35, to leave. In response, Poitier, who is Black, reportedly swore at the officers and called them "crackers."

Video of their confrontation shows Poitier toward Dominguez and put his face within inches of the officer's. Dominguez proceeds to grab the 35-year-old's hands with his left hand and delivers a hard punch to his face with his right, sending him crashing to the ground.

While Dominguez was relieved of patrol duties during the subsequent investigation into the incident, he returned to work in October last year after prosecutors determined that he had used the proper amount of force after being "threatened" by Poitier.

In a close-out memo that cleared him of any wrongdoing, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office said Dominguez could have believed that Poitier was "about to hit him," with Attorney Sandra Miller-Batiste stating that he "had the right to protect himself."

Those sentiments were backed by Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements, who insisted that there was a side to police work "that doesn't always look good" but falls within the guidelines of what officers are trained to do.

"I believe this is one of those cases," he told the Herald. "He was in what the officer perceived to be a fighting stance. In that case, the officer reverted back to his training. It was a distractionary blow."

While Dominguez escaped punishment, the same could not be said of Garcia and Frederick Dominguez, another officer who was involved in the incident but is not related to Dominguez. Both police officers received "serious warnings". 

Internal Affairs investigators gave Garcia a written warning last month for "producing and distributing an unauthorized version of recordings" from his body camera after it was determined that he used his cell phone to record the footage from his body camera and then posted it on social media.

Frederick Dominguez, on the other hand, received notice of a 10-hour suspension for releasing a copy of the tape made by Garcia to his attorney, Michael Pizzi. Internal Affairs said he asked Pizzi to "forward it to the proper authorities" and seek whistleblower protection for him. He has not served the suspension and is fighting his charges.

"What a disgrace," Pizzi said of Internal Affairs' findings against his client and their failure to punish Dominguez. "Based on the way this was handled, it’s open season on innocent people. It's outrageous."

David Kubiliun, an attorney who is representing Poitier, said his client is now intending to file a civil rights lawsuit against the department and the city in the coming weeks.

RELATED TOPICS FLORIDA NEWS
POPULAR ON MEAWW
MORE ON MEAWW