Man beaten by Beach cops calls them ‘violent mob’ in federal civil rights lawsuit

A Maryland man whose severe beating by nearly two dozen Miami Beach police officers in a hotel lobby was captured on cellphone video and made national headlines, has filed a federal lawsuit against the city and the officers, claiming his civil rights have been violated.

Dolanta Crudup, whose take-down outside a stack of elevators at the Royal Palm Hotel led to the arrest of five Miami Beach police officers, says in the lawsuit he was seeking refuge at the hotel where he was staying with family, before officers wantonly descended on him after a chase through South Beach.

Miami Beach Police, “acting like an unrestrained violent mob, brutally beat him senseless, resulting in significant, permanent, bodily injury,” Crudup’s attorney David Frankel wrote in the 53-page civil suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida late last week.

The 12-count lawsuit, which names the city, two officers and “as yet unidentified police officers of the city of Miami Beach”, is seeking damages in excess of $75,000 and claims a culture of “lawlessness” and poor training led to the city’s liability in the case. The suit also alleges excessive force and a failure to intervene by senior officers.

To bolster its claim of “lawlessness,” the lawsuit lists more than 50 instances of what it considers police misconduct and excessive force. Included are several high-profile incidents like the 2011 Memorial Day shooting death on Ocean Drive of Raymond Herisse and the conviction of an officer who ran over two tourists with an ATV on the beach while going on a joyride with a bride-to-be.

The city of Miami Beach had not responded to questions about the lawsuit by early afternoon. Kevin Perez’s attorney, Robert Buschel, called filing the lawsuit just a part of Crudup’s game plan.

“The State Attorney’s Office gave him a pass for injuring a police officer and threatening another in exchange for his testimony,” the attorney said. “The Court of Appeal will agree to a new trial or outright dismiss the case against Kevin Perez.”

Minor incident blows up

Crudup’s arrest on a warm July evening three years ago began with a minor altercation that ballooned into an all-out chase by dozens of cops and the eventual videotaped beat-down of the Maryland man. Yet even from the start, police and Crudup couldn’t agree on what precipitated the incident.

Police say it began when Crudup drove his motor scooter over an officer’s foot. But Miami-Dade state prosecutors trying the case against one of the officers argued in court it began a few minutes before that, when Crudup almost fell off his scooter while trying to start it up on Collins Avenue and Ninth Street in front of three friends and much to the delight of three police officers.

Crudup said when he stood up after the fall, friends and the police were laughing at him. He said he gave the officers the finger, then rode off on his scooter. But before he got to the hotel at 1545 Collins Ave., police chased him on bicycles, on foot and in vehicles. As he made his way through one alley, he told jurors, an officer threw his bike forward to try and stop him.

An officer testified that during the chase Crudup road his scooter over his foot. When he got near his hotel, a large white SUV driven by police forced him off the road. He abandoned the scooter and ran into the hotel elevator. But an officer caught him before the door closed and ordered him to the ground.

While Crudup was on the ground, cellphone video shows officers kicking, grabbing at him and picking him up while handcuffed and slamming his head to the ground.

Five Miami Beach cops charged

Under a glaring media spotlight, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernanez Rundle led a press conference, playing the video publicly, denouncing the actions of law enforcement and announcing five arrests.

Miami Beach Police Sgt. Jose Perez and officer Officer Kevin Perez were charged with felony battery. Officer Steven Serrano was charged with felony official misconduct. And officers Robert Sabater and David Rivas were charged with single counts of misdemeanor battery.

Since their August 2021 arrest, the status of several of the defendants has changed.

Sgt. Perez gave up his badge and agreed to six months probation. Serrano is still awaiting trial for allegedly doctoring Crudup’s arrest form. The charges against Sabater and Rivas were dropped. Only Kevin Perez went to trial — and though a verdict was reached, his status still remains very much up in the air.

After a five-day trial in March 2023 in which Crudup only agreed to testify after being subpoenaed and granted immunity, Perez was found guilty of simple battery for using excessive force. But three months later, during what was supposed to be his sentencing, the judge tossed the verdict and granted the officer a new trial.

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Alberto Milian said defense attorneys should have been made aware that the state planned to drop charges against Crudup if the officer was found guilty. Crudup had been charged with fleeing from police.

Milian said there appeared to be a “quid pro quo” and that the defense should have been able to cross-examine Crudup about any benefit he might have received. Prosecutors adamantly denied there was any type of arrangement and said the judge erred in overturning the jury verdict. They appealed the ruling. The Third District Court of Appeal has yet to issue its opinion.