Charles Rabin
Miami Herald
MIAMI — A Miami-Dade police officer was relieved of duty last week after video circulated on social media of three officers taking a woman to the ground, then handcuffing and arresting her — after the woman had called police to report a man had pointed a shotgun at her, police said.
The incident took place early last week in South Miami-Dade. The video shows three officers questioning the woman, then pushing her toward a fence on a sidewalk, before wrestling her to the ground and cuffing her.
Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez reacted publicly to the incident late Wednesday night, saying on Twitter that the department has begun an investigation after learning of the video. He also said that one of the officers — who hasn’t been named — has been relieved of duty pending an investigation.
“I find the actions depicted on the video very troubling and in no way reflective of our core values of integrity, respect and fairness,” Perez said.
Perez said while the woman was being taken into custody, police were questioning the man who allegedly pointed a weapon at her.
Police were notified of the incident with a call just after 7 p.m. March 5 about an aggravated assault with a shotgun at a home in the 11300 block of Southwest 201st Street.
According to her arrest report, 26-year-old Dyma Loving was walking past Frank Tumm, who began calling her a “whore.”
After sparring with Tumm, Loving told police he verbally threatened her and pointed a shotgun at her. Tumm denied he owned a weapon, police said. And a witness backed up his claim.
But a few minutes later, according to the report, the witness recanted and said Tumm did point a weapon at Loving. Police said while speaking with him, Tumm refused to leave his property.
At some point, police said, Loving “began acting belligerent” and “irate” and refused to obey commands. Officers said she began screaming and caused a scene. The two officers listed on the arrest form are A.I. Giraldo and J.F. Calderon. It wasn’t clear Thursday whether either one of them had been suspended.
As of Thursday, Tumm, the man questioned by police and accused of pointing the shotgun, hadn’t been arrested or charged with a crime. Perez said the officer relieved of duty was a tenured cop who was working with two rookies.
“I don’t know what got into his mind,” Perez said.
The cellphone video apparently taken by a friend of the woman pans in and out as she is taken to the ground roughly by police and handcuffed. It begins with the woman saying, “Don’t touch me,” as three police officers push her toward a chain-link fence. A friend asks, “Why you doing that?”
Then the woman, wearing a dark T-shirt and black shorts, says “I need to call my kids. I don’t understand.”
When a friend asks for the officer’s name, one of the cops replies, “We’re busy right now.”
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