Police brutality in broad daylight on Hallandale Beach Blvd. Police heavily beat this man up busted his head open led him to bleed heavily. The man is known around the area to be a mentally challenged indiavidual. @wsvn @CBSMiami @WPLGLocal10 @SunSentinel pic.twitter.com/U2vENYGfHM
— 1 (@05302018a) May 31, 2018
Two police officers in Florida were placed on administrative leave Thursday after they were caught on camera beating a man relentlessly with their batons, while bystanders looked on in shock.
“He didn’t do anything!” shouted one person, who can be heard yelling in a cellphone video as the two Hallandale Beach cops pummel the man.
“Stop f–king hitting him!”
The footage was posted online Thursday by a Twitter user named @05302018a — who described the man being hit as “mentally challenged.”
“Police brutality in broad daylight on Hallandale Beach Blvd,” the user wrote. “Police heavily beat this man up busted his head open led him to bleed heavily. The man is known around the area to be a mentally challenged individual.”
Authorities identified him as Daniel Dunkelberger, a local 27-year-old who was being arrested for burglary.
Cops had received a call Wednesday about someone stealing a cell phone and charger from their car when they came upon Dunkelberger — who matched the suspect’s description — at around 1:30 p.m., according to officials.
The officers who got placed on administrative leave claim that they tried arresting him without incident, but he resisted and began acting disorderly.
At a press conference Thursday night, officials described how the cops tased Dunkelberger twice in the attempt to subdue him — but it had no effect on him.
Dunkelberger “tensed his body” at one point, causing the officers to whip out their batons, officials said. He was eventually taken down and handcuffed, and charged with burglary and resisting arrest.
The cops involved — identified as Jaime Cerna, an 11-year veteran, and Richard Allen, a 35-year veteran — were placed on leave Thursday amid the uproar over the video.
The Hallandale Beach Police Department has launched an internal affairs investigation to decide whether there was any wrongdoing.
“I will tell you after viewing that video it is of serious concern to the police department, to me as city manager and certainly to our elected officials,” City Manager Roger Carlton said Thursday. “An internal affairs investigation has already begun and it will be done by the books.”