Unexpected twist: Judge lessens charge against Miami Beach cop in hotel lobby scrum

A police officer on trial for his role in the violent arrest of a tourist who led cops on a chase through South Beach two summers ago won a major victory Tuesday when a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge significantly downgraded the charge against the officer.

Moments after prosecutors concluded their case against Miami Beach Police Officer Kevin Perez, Judge Alberto Milian reduced the charge against the officer from felony battery, to simple battery — meaning that if found guilty, Perez would spend no more than a year in prison, far less than the five-year sentence that could have been imposed with the felony charge.

To prove felony battery, the state had to show that Dalonta Crudup suffered great bodily harm — which includes some type of permanent disfigurement — when Miami Beach police roughed him up during a scrum in the lobby of the Royal Palm Hotel.

But Milian, acting on a request by Perez attorney Robert Buschel to dismiss the case, said he was unable to see a scar on Crudup’s chin from just a few feet away.

Milian also based his decision, he said, on Mount Sinai physician Ramin Vejdani’s testimony that Crudup didn’t suffer any serious bodily injury, just some bruising.

The doctor also said the cut on Crudup’s chin highlighted by the state was three centimeters long. Assistant State Attorney Joshua Novak failed in his attempt to convince the judge that Vejdani was not an expert witness and that great bodily harm should be determined by the six jurors.

The judge also seemed to indicate that even the simple battery charge against Perez may be on thin ice. Crudup has charges pending for fleeing and eluding police, which gives officers the leeway to use force, even deadly if necessary, when taking someone into custody.

“People may not like it. But that is the law in Florida,” Milian said.

When Buschel argued the case should be dismissed because the law gave officers the right to use force on someone fleeing from police, Novak countered that by the time Crudup was beaten, he was no longer trying to get away. He was on the floor of the hotel lobby face down with some officers on his back and his hands behind him, Novak said.

The judge said he would wait until after the jury verdict to decide whether the case should be tossed.

After his ruling, jurors were called back into the chamber and the defense began its case during the fourth day of trial. Jurors were not informed of the change in charge against Perez. Then the defense rested after about two hours of more testimony from police. Closing arguments are Wednesday.

Perez and four other officers were charged with taking part in the beating of Crudup, 26, in July 2021, when crowds of visitors were staying on Miami Beach during the Rolling Loud hip-hop festival, one of the largest in the country. One of the officers, Sgt. Jose Perez, avoided a felony charge by retiring. The other three are facing future court dates.

During trial testimony, Crudup, who was visiting from Maryland, and witnesses described a minor incident that began with Crudup almost falling off his scooter as he started it at a road closure off Collins Avenue and ballooned into an international story. Crudup said when he got up, both friends and the police were laughing at him. He admitted to giving police at the scene the finger, then riding off.

Somewhere along the route to his room at the Royal Palm Hotel, police say Crudup ran his scooter over an officer’s foot. Police say that’s when they began to chase Crudup, radio signaling that a 332 had just occurred. That’s the signal for officer down and a call every cop is required to answer. Prosecutors argued that police began chasing Crudup after he made the lewd gesture toward officers.

Police caught up to Crudup in the hotel lobby, where surveillance video shows almost two dozen officers surrounding him, some drawing their weapons and kicking and punching him. Perez is accused of picking Crudup up after he was handcuffed and slamming his face toward the ground. Prosecutors also say he sat on Crudup as Jose Perez kicked him in the face, and that another officer punched Crudup in the back of the head and kicked him.

Crudup has been charged by state prosecutors with fleeing and eluding police. He pleaded not guilty.