A Black North Carolina man whose trip to Miami Beach turned into a ride to jail has settled an excessive force lawsuit for $130,000 with the city after he was seen on video violently arrested, beaten unconscious and dragged across the street by police in 2019.
“Why would it take multiple officers to have to seize him, tackle him, and start applying excessive force with punches, closed fists, etcetera and the words they used on the bodycam, just hyper-aggressive,” said Jordan Redavid, the attorney representing 29-year-old Cody Wade in the newly settled lawsuit that was filed in July 2021.
Wade was vacationing in the South Florida area from Charlotte on the day of his encounter with Miami Beach police. On the evening of June 29, 2019, Wade was inside the nightclub Mango Tropical Café, when “an incident occurred,” as the Miami Herald reported, that was later described as “disorderly behavior,” resulting in Wade being kicked out of the establishment.
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“What led to them asking him to leave is disputed, but what isn’t disputed is what’s captured on the video. Even after he was asked to leave, he didn’t cause a scene, there was no threats of violence, he didn’t bother other customers,” Redavid said of Wade’s ejection from the restaurant.
“The video shows him very calmly still communicating with an employee of the business. The employee of the business gestures, almost to give directions, he leaves and comes back within a few minutes. He doesn’t do anything different other than re-asks it looks like the same question, he’s directed to leave, and he does,” Redavid added, describing what led to Wade’s run-in with Miami Beach police.
Body camera video shows Miami Beach Police Officers Alfredo Garcia and Agustin Rodriguez speaking with Wade for several minutes asking him to leave the area outside of the establishment in what began as a calm exchange of words that grew more intense as officers are heard using several profanities.
The officers accused Wade of being intoxicated. “You’re a little drunk,” one officer said. Another officer asked Wade, “why do you smell like weed?”
Wade denied being intoxicated or on any drugs and suggested he receive a breathalyzer test; however, none were given on bodycam. As they continued talking, the officers appear increasingly agitated as Wade prepared to leave.
In what appears to be a jump cut in the body camera video from the calm scene in front of the Mango Tropical Café to the next scene, Garcia and Rodriguez are shown walking toward an intersection where they encounter Wade again, this time running through the crosswalk.
Wade’s attorney didn’t explain why the 29-year-old was running, but a police report claims Wade tried to reenter Mango Tropical Café and he was “running to try to evade the officers as they sought to arrest him for trespassing,” the Herald said.
“He starts crossing the street in a crosswalk, and that’s when the police intercept him,” Redavid said in his description of how the encounter turned physical.
