HAINES CITY, Fla. (WFLA) – The Haines City Police Department is investigating after videos posted to social media showed a dispute between an officer and suspect during an arrest.
“All of these concern me,” said Chief Greg Goreck. “These are not normal actions that you see whenever my officers interact with folks, at least it shouldn’t be.”
According to authorities, the police department was “made aware of some videos that surfaced on social media,” where an officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a suspect who had been driving on a suspended license since October.
Officials said the traffic stop occurred on Wednesday at 11:06 a.m. when Officer Justin Vasquez attempted to conduct a traffic stop for illegally tinted windows on a vehicle near the intersection of 16th Street East and Melbourne Avenue.
Police said as the driver, Miranda Brundidge III, saw Officer Vasquez U-turn behind him, he pulled into a business, exited the vehicle, and ran a short distance before continuing to walk away from his vehicle.
Body worn camera footage shows Officer Vasquez then exited his patrol vehicle and chased Brundidge on foot. During this brief chase, Vasquez could see the handle of a firearm sticking out from Brundidge’s pocket.
Having seen the gun, Officer Vasquez yelled at Brundidge to “get on the ground,” over 10 times, but the driver still refused to comply, body camera footage revealed.
“It doesn’t look pretty. It doesn’t look good,” said Chief Goreck. “If I was an average citizen, I’d have a lot of questions, which our average citizens here did.”
According to police, Vasquez was able to take one of Brundidge’s hands and tried to get the second hand to secure him with handcuffs, but Brundidge continued to resist. Since the officer was alone, the Haines City Police Department said he attempted to gain compliance and forced Brundidge to the ground, since he was still “readily accessible” to the firearm.
“Anytime you have a firearm,” said Goreck. “Whether you’re legally possessing it or illegally possessing, it elevates the situation when it comes to the officer.”
When Brundidge still refused to comply with verbal directions, Officer Vasquez punched his upper body twice in an attempt to once again gain compliance. However, this time it worked and Vasquez was able to handcuff Brundidge behind his back.
“The strikes to his upper body were for the purpose of bringing him into what’s called ‘pain compliance,'” said Goreck.
Then, as Officer Vasquez began to escort Brundidge to the patrol car, officials said he continued to resist by tensing his arms and pulling away with his legs. Since Vasquez was alone at the scene, he was unable to remove the firearm from the driver’s pocket until backup arrived.
Due to the nature of the incident and Brundidge’s resistance, Vasquez had to “aggressively direct the suspect onto the hood of his car, which would allow him to maintain control of the still armed suspect with less effort,” according to the police department.
In a press release, the Haines City Police Department said the passenger of Brundidge’s car, who was videotaping the incident, can be heard telling Brundidge to “just chill.”
The Haines City Police Department held a press conference Sunday to discuss the nature of the videos and Officer Vasquez’s actions, where Police Chief Greg Goreck said that the department isn’t saying all the actions are justified, but they’re trying to provide background to the videos posted.
“We are not saying that all the actions here were justified, but what we are trying to do is give a little bit of background, a little bit of insight into what the small fragmented segment videos that were released on social media,” Chief Goreck said.
“I looked at the videos, and I can tell you that the fragmented videos that were presented online gave me some concern too,” he said. “It does look quite forceful. I admit to you. I mean, I’m standing up here, I’ll tell you, it does look forceful.”
Despite the videos showing forceful actions, Chief Goreck reiterated that Officer Vasquez’s acted the way he did to prevent a deadly confrontation.
“Officer Vasquez was doing everything he could to avoid a deadly confrontation,” Goreck said. “Vasquez had to fight with the subject to get him into custody, and this easily could have turned into a deadly force situation.”
According to authorities, Brundidge was arrested and charged with driving on a suspended license and resisting an officer. He was also issued two citations for illegal window tint, the reason Vasquez attempted the traffic stop in the first place.
Chief Goreck emphasized he’s not taking sides, just providing possible reasons for Officer Vasquez’s actions.
“I hope that my explanation of what transpired is not an indication that we’ve already made up our mind,” Goreck explained. “I certainly haven’t. I am a fair and open person, and we will follow this investigation wherever it leads.”
Police said Brundidge’s license was suspended for failure to pay court costs. Following the altercation, Brundidge did not admit to driving the vehicle and “adamantly denied driving the vehicle, despite video to the contrary.”
“His past history consists of traffic violations to include a previous charge of knowingly driving on a suspended driver’s license,” the police department said in a statement.
Officer Vasquez has not been placed on any kind of leave, according to the police department.
This is a developing story that will be updated with information as we receive it.