Video shows officers in ‘confrontation’ with man in Miami-Dade

THE GOULDS, Fla. – Witnesses recorded a video showing police officers arresting a man in what appeared to be a traffic stop on Thursday in south Miami-Dade County. One of the videos shows an officer punching him in the head.

The arrest was in a parking lot near the intersection of Southwest 224th Street and Allappattah Road in Miami-Dade’s Goulds neighborhood. The officers also arrested three witnesses.

“The Mami-Dade Police Department is aware of an incident that occurred overnight in our South District where our officers were involved in a physical confrontation with an armed convicted felon,” a police spokesperson wrote in a statement released on Friday.  

According to Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, the man arrested is Javaris Swanson. Records show he has been on 5-year probation since March 21, 2020.

Two of the witnesses arrested were a father and son who were at a nearby business.

During the arrests, officers also seized three firearms, according to the statement. The officers were reassigned to administrative duties pending the results of an internal affairs investigation.

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The complete MDPD statement:

The Mami-Dade Police Department is aware of an incident that occurred overnight in our South District where our officers were involved in a physical confrontation with an armed convicted felon.  During this incident, a total of four individuals were arrested and three firearms were seized.  In our continued efforts of full transparency, we immediately initiated an internal affairs investigation into the matter with our Professional Compliance Bureau. The officers involved have been reassigned to administrative duties. We will continually evaluate this case, as the internal affairs process continues

This is a developing story.

Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Allison Cubillos contributed to this report.