Former Marlins star says Miami police are ‘always looking’ to ‘put their hands on athletes’ after Olympian’s arrest
Olympic athlete Fred Kerley was arrested Thursday night, and several videos of the encounter have gone viral.
Body camera footage showed the 2024 bronze medalist be attacked by the policewhile another angle showed one officer punching while others held Kerley down.
Kerley was taken into custody after police said he became agitated while trying to get to his car, which was near the scene of an active police investigation.
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Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Fred Kerley (Imagin)
Dashcam footage obtained by TMZ Sports shows Kerley talking to police before turning to another officer, who put his hand on Kerley’s chest and was shoved away by Kerley. The officer then shoved Kerley with his other hand before chaos ensued.
Former Miami Marlins star Jazz Chisholm Jr., who now plays for the New York Yankees, criticized the police for their actions.
“Miami Beach police are always looking for a way to accommodate them [sic] hands on athletes! Sorry, Fred, this happened to you!” Chisholm posted on X.
Kerley faces charges of assaulting a police officer, prison officer or firefighter; resisting an officer without violence; and misconduct. He was released on his own recognizance.
Fred Kerley (USA) in the men’s first 100m during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics at the Stade de France. (Andrew Nelles\/USA Today Sports)
Kerley’s arrest Thursday left him facing domestic violence and robbery charges stemming from an incident in May, when police issued a probable cause alert to their system. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital, Kerley and his wife got into a verbal and then physical altercation in May, on his birthday, when Kerley’s wife was in contact with an “unknown person on Instagram.”
According to the statement, Kerley aggressively approached his wife, and she punched him out of fear, according to the statement. Kerley then allegedly “grabbed the victim, pushed her to the ground, wrapped her arm around her neck and obstructed her breathing.”
The affidavit says Kerley then stole his wife’s cell phone after placing her in another chokehold. Kerley was not present when authorities arrived and witnesses became uncooperative, police said.
The woman Kerley was with on Thursday, Cleo Rahman, was also reportedly arrested and the two are said to be dating. Rahman wrote “free my man” as the caption of the video of the officer punching Kerley.
“As we tried to move to our car, the cop decided to push my boyfriend and get him out of the way, and that started a big fiasco,” Rahman, a rapper who goes by the name DJ Sky High Baby, told NBC. Miami. “We were just trying to get to the car. We weren’t trying to obstruct justice or anything like that. It’s just crazy to the point where (it took) four officers to try to get him into custody. It was absolutely crazy.”
Fred Kerley (USA) reacts after competing in the men’s 100m semi-final during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics at the Stade de France. (Yukihito Taguchi/USA Today Sports)
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Kerley won a bronze medal in the 100 meters in Paris this summer, while his teammate Noah Lyles won his first Olympic gold. Kerley won the 2022 world championship in the event and silver at the Tokyo Olympics, and also has the 2019 4x400m and 2023 4x100m relay world championships.
Kerley was part of the 4x100m team in Paris that was disqualified for a failed handover. Noah Lyles thought he would be part of that team, but fell ill with COVID, which contributed to his drop in the 200m, an event for which he was heavily favored.
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