A police officer involved in the arrest of Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill has been placed on administrative as an investigation into the ordeal kicks off.
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The Miami-Dade Police Department is currently reviewing a video of the detainment of Hill, which occurred on Sunday, Sept. 8, as the football star was heading to pregame warm-up.
Hill was seen being handcuffed while lying on his stomach steps from his vehicle. He was cited for reckless driving after he was allegedly speeding.
MDPD director Stephanie V. Daniels revealed one of the responding officers in the incident has been placed on leave.
“Following the incident involving Tyreek Hill, I have initiated an Internal Affairs investigation to ensure a thorough review of the matter,” Daniels explained.
“One of the officers involved in the incident has been placed on administrative duties while the investigation is conducted. I’m committed to transparency and accountability to the community with any situation involving my officers.”
Despite the pregame incident, Tyreek Hill managed to get to the game and even caught an 80-yard touchdown.
Despite what happened, Hill was able to joke about the ordeal on the field by appearing to be “handcuffed” by teammate Jaylen Waddle while celebrating a touchdown.
Tyreek Hill Breaks Silence About Pregame Arrest
Following the game, Tyreek Hill addressed the incident, stating he had no idea why he was detained.
“Right now, I’m still trying to put it all together. … I still don’t know what happened,” Hill said. “But I do want to use this platform to say, ‘What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill?’ Worst-case scenario, you know?”
“It’s hard. I don’t want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets kind of iffy when you do. What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? Lord knows what those guys would have done. I just wanted to make sure I was doing what my uncle always told me to do whenever you’re in a situation like that — put your hands on the steering wheel and just listen.”
Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Calais Campbell also stated he was detained as well.
“They put handcuffs on me too, and I was like ‘What’s going on?’ I didn’t understand what the issue was,” Campbell said. “For him to put handcuffs on me, I felt some type of way.”
Campbell then shared, “That just goes to show our resilience. We didn’t let that stop us. We just got back in line, got focused again, and went out there and played a good football game. But that definitely was an interesting way to start a ballgame.”
Hill added that he plans to use the experience to improve the relationship between police and the community. “I want to be able to use this platform to figure out a way to flip this,” he said, “and make it a positive on my end and Miami-Dade and do something positive for the community.”
Hill’s agent Drew Rosenhaus also spoke out before the game, calling the ordeal “very upsetting.”
“It’s unnecessary,” he said. “There’s no reason Tyreek should’ve been treated that way.”