Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley arrested in South Beach, accused of fighting officers

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – An Olympic medalist is facing legal trouble in South Florida after police charged him with assaulting an officer during an incident in Miami Beach late Thursday night.

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Fred Kerley, a sprinter who won silver for the United States at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and bronze at the 2024 Games in Paris, faces one felony and two misdemeanor charges in Miami-Dade County.

The 29-year-old, whose full name is Fredrick Kerley, was born and raised in Texas and now lives in a five-bedroom home on the western edge of the Goulds area of ​​southwest Miami-Dade, according to his arrest report. He faced a judge Friday afternoon.

According to police, the actions that landed him in a jumpsuit for jail took place just before 11:25 p.m. in the 100 block of Ninth Street in South Beach.

Police said Kerley approached a police scene with an “aggressive demeanor (and) was concerned about his vehicle parked in the area of ​​the scene.”

The arrest report says officers told Kerley to “walk around” the area, but he continued to be aggressive, argue with officers and eventually tried to “force” his way through two officers, grabbing the hand of an officer who put it up to “create space” between him and the athlete.

Authorities said Kerley pushed an officer, leading to a struggle with several officers on the ground. At one point, police said an officer “delivered multiple hammer fists” to Kerley’s head and elbowed him in the back when he resisted arrest.

The report says that after “several diversionary attacks to his chest area,” officers used a stun gun on him and were able to handcuff him. Authorities said that despite being handcuffed, Kerley was able to remove one of the stun gun probes.

Police arrested him on a felony charge of battery on a law enforcement officer and misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Miami Beach police also arrested Kerley’s 32-year-old girlfriend, Cleo Jamila Rahman, on a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.

Rahman, from Burbank, California, is a nationally known DJ who goes by the name “DJ Sky High Baby.” The Baltimore native appeared on the reality show “Baddies.”

An arrest report says Rahman screamed, “That’s my girlfriend! That’s my girlfriend!” and “continue(d) to yell and cause a scene trying to pass through the officer barricade” in the middle of the arrest, causing the officers to “divert their attention from helping the officers deal with her.”

It says she resisted two officers who tried to grab her to arrest her.

Decorated athlete appears in court

Kerley appeared in Miami-Dade bond court Friday afternoon.

During a somewhat contentious hearing, defense attorney Yale Sanford appeared at his side, off-frame in the courtroom video feed, arguing there was no probable cause for a disorderly conduct charge. He also criticized the officers’ actions at the scene.

“This seems like a total misunderstanding,” Sanford said. “Mr. Kerley is a record-breaking athlete. He has served in the Olympics for the USA track and field (team). He is a model citizen in our community. This is nothing more than an overreaction by the police.”

Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer seemed to agree after reading the arrest report.

“It looks like he was beaten pretty badly by the police from what I read,” she said.

“That’s our contention,” Sanford said. “This was a situation where he asked, and it turned into an action where a police officer actively put his hands in front of him – no case that I’ve ever been involved in is there, because one person needed four officers. Indulge a taser.”

Sanford called the incident “a complete overuse of any reasonable authority by officers” and “a simple misunderstanding from the beginning that was escalated by the police.”

“And here we are, my client sits, here, an Olympic athlete, and here he is spending the night in jail, and this all could have been avoided if the officers were able to have a reasonable conversation,” he said.

The prosecutor responded, “He’s a big guy, so I understand why (more) officers might have been needed to get him into custody.”

Prosecutors explained that the 6-foot-4 Kerley shoving an officer justified a charge of battery on a law enforcement officer.

“Well, what about what they did to him?” Glazer replied. “Was there any responsibility on behalf of the police?” She added: “Hopefully there is video and body cam that will show what happened.”

“I don’t know what happened here, sir,” Glazer told Kerley. “But obviously your behavior wasn’t – you weren’t on your best behavior here dealing with these police officers.”

A Miami Beach police sergeant then appeared from a distance and called Kerley “pretty aggressive” while justifying the charges and the officers’ actions. She stated that there was body camera video of the incident.

“Sergeant, this could have been handled differently,” Glazer said. “And I don’t know if the officers in Miami Beach are busy dealing with a lot of complicated crime scenes there, but I have a gentleman who has never been arrested, there are no prior arrests, who his lawyer says has attended the Olympics, who is obviously a professional athlete and it is unfortunate that he got to this position.”

Glazer, finding probable cause on the charges of battery on an officer and resisting arrest — but not disorderly conduct — ordered Kerley released on her own recognizance.

“Sir, you’re probably wise to stay away from Miami Beach,” Glazer warned Kerley. “Go somewhere else for dinner, stay out of trouble, because if you get arrested again, you’ll be locked up in jail until your trial.”

Body Camera Footage Released; union, lawyer reacts

Miami Beach police later released body camera video showing the altercation.

A spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department defended the actions of the agency’s officers.

“Our officers attempted to de-escalate the situation multiple times,” said Officer Christopher Bess. “However, unfortunately the defendant escalated it by using physical force on an officer and was subsequently dealt with accordingly.”

The union representing the MBPD officers also issued a statement after the release of the footage criticizing Glazer.

“I am very disappointed that Judge Mindy Glazer did not look at our officer’s body-worn cameras before acting more like a defense attorney at the hearing than an impartial judge,” said Police Chief Bobby Hernandez. “She also must not have been aware that when she sympathized with him and his defense attorney, that this ‘model citizen’ was wanted for domestic violence involving strangulation and robbery.”

Hernandez is referring to a case from May 2024 that Kerley is scheduled to appear in court again on Saturday. Details about the case were not immediately available Friday night.

“Defendant Fred Kerly (sic) had an opportunity to comply and he decided to violently resist,” Hernandez said. “Bad decisions lead to bad consequences.”

Sanford released a statement on his client’s behalf after the video was released, in part calling the footage “obscene.”

“It just goes to show that no matter how hard you work, how many medals you earn for your country, and how many people around the globe you inspire, Mr. Kerley in Miami Beach was treated like millions of African Americans, men and women around the country … with a lack of humanity, compassion or respect,” Sanford said. “It’s important for our community to be aware of these actions by the police so we can make sure this type of behavior is prevented in the future.”