A police officer is seeking reinstatement from administrative duty after his involvement in the Sunday detainment of Tyreek Hill, while the Miami Dolphins star's agent has called for the officers in the incident to be fired, Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN reports.
Attorneys Ignacio Alvarez of ALGO Law Firm and Israel Reyes of The Reyes Law Firm, who are representing the Miami-Dade Police Department officer, issued a statement Monday calling for their client's "immediate reinstatement." They also referred to the decision to place their client on administrative duties as "premature," although they "fully support" Miami-Dade PD director Stephanie Daniels' call for a thorough review.
The attorneys did not identify the officer they are representing, but on Tuesday the Miami-Dade PD said the officer placed on administrative duties while the Internal Affairs investigation is ongoing is Danny Torres, who has a 27-year tenure.
Neither Alvarez nor Reyes immediately responded when asked whether their statement was crafted before or after the body camera footage from the incident was made public Monday.
"We urge all parties to refrain from making public statements that may misrepresent our client's actions and mislead the public about Mr. Hill's detainment," Alvarez said in the statement.
The statement said their client would not make any comment until after the investigation into the matter is finished; Alvarez and Reyes did not immediately respond to an inquiry as to whether their client had any previous disciplinary actions, incidents or investigations on their record.
During an appearance on "The Dan Le Batard Show," Hill's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, expressed his disgust for the officers' treatment of his client.
"For me, personally, I believe the police officers that did that to Tyreek shouldn't be in that position -- they should be let go," Rosenhaus said. "Look at the guy who kicked him -- that guy should be fired. That's out of control. The guy that jumped in and put him in a chokehold? There's no place for a police officer to have a badge that operates like that, when Tyreek wasn't being aggressive or violent or fighting back in any capacity.
"That was horrendous how they treated him. They didn't treat him like a human being."
Rosenhaus stopped short of saying Hill agreed with his stance but added that he would have a discussion with Hill and his attorney, Julius Collins.
Hill was pulled over on suspicion of speeding while driving to Hard Rock Stadium, roughly three hours before the Dolphins' season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The South Florida Police Benevolent Association, the police union that works with the Miami-Dade PD, released a statement Monday afternoon saying Hill was "uncooperative" with the responding officers, leading to an escalation of the situation.
Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/theredzoneorg
Don't forget to follow us on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@theredzoneorg
Like us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/Theredzone.org