Police body camera footage shows rough restraint of Italian college student in Miami Gardens

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A tough takedown was caught on camera after a college student was accused of battering a police officer.

Things quickly escalated during his detention, and police said they were forced to restrain him.

This started at Dean’s Gold Strip Club on Feb. 25 after the club called police saying the student was refusing to leave.

Officers were called there and arrested 25-year-old Matteo Falcinelli, a student at Florida International University who is from Italy. They say he resisted them and tried to harm himself, which led to him him hog-tied inside a cell at the North Miami Beach Police Department.

Video from an officer’s body worn camera showing the incident has attracted headlines from South Florida to Italy.

Falcinelli seems to cry out in pain as officers attach a belt to restrain his arms and legs, but according to the police department, the maneuver, which they refer to as a leg hobble, was used for Falcinelli’s own safety.

That was a result, police said, of Falcinelli continually banging his head against the glass of the cell.

North Miami Beach police said the decision to restrain him was for his safety and that they acted in accordance with state standards and department policy.

Police say falcinelli resisted their commands at every turn, and was ultimately placed in the restraint for a total of 13 minutes.

Falcinelli was charged with two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.