A Miami police officer is facing a lawsuit for allegedly beating a man that was yelling at the officer. The incident took place in 2015, but the lawsuit was filed on July 17, 2018.
42-year-old Jose Farquaharson was in the town of Overtown back in 2015 enjoying a night out. A speeding vehicle blew by Farquaharson who was on foot. Farquaharson then took it upon himself to shout at two Miami Police Department cops that were standing across the street. Farquaharson yelled, “Do your fucking job and stop the cars from speeding!”
It was then that Officer Luis Arcia ran across the street and yelled back at Farquaharson saying, “Kiss my ass.”
Arcia then grabbed Farquaharson by the wrist and threw him to the ground, cuffing his hands. The lawsuit states that, “Arcia punched him several times in the face, beating him so badly he required hospitalization.”
Farquaharson was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Citing insufficient evidence, the magistrate dropped the charges on the following day. The lawsuit lists Officer Arcia and the City of Miami as defendants. The grounds for the lawsuit are false arrest and excessive force Miami New Times News reports.
Attorney Roderick Vereen is representing Farquaharson. Vereen believes that the officer thought he got a free pass from the incident. Vereen released this statement:
“For a few years, he thought he was gonna get away with it. If he’s gonna get all pissed off because somebody yells profanities at him and exercise unlawful force, then [he’s] in the wrong community and in the wrong job. Some people think that uniform gives them permission to do whatever they want. This was uncalled for.”
Upon the charges being dropped, Farquaharson filed a complaint with the police department’s internal affairs office. But in 2016 internal affairs found no wrong doing of Arcia and closed the investigation citing that the allegations were “unsupported.”
The Civilian Investigative Panel, an independent police-oversight board, also reviewed the case but couldn’t verify the validity of the complaint because the witnesses failed to cooperate.
Arcia has four citizen complaints on his record in-addition to seven use-of-force incidents. In one instance Arcia was even relieved of duty.
