US sprint star stunned with electric shock device and arrested

The three-time sprint world champion Fred Kerley was tasered and arrested during a confrontation with police in Miami Beach. The police announced this according to consistent media reports. The 29-year-old, multiple Olympic medalist was first taken to a hospital and then to the Miami-Dade County Jail after the incident, the news agency reported, among others AP.

According to police, Kerley had approached an ongoing police investigation and attempted to get to his car parked nearby. According to the police, the bronze medalist from Paris refused to leave the place and became increasingly aggressive. Kerley resisted and was overpowered by several police officers using a Taser. The altercation can be seen in a police officer’s body camera video. Kerley is charged with assault, resisting officers and disorderly conduct.

Kerley’s lawyer: Police overreaction

Kerley’s attorney, Richard L. Cooper, criticized the officers’ actions. “I can say that Mr. Kerley is a record-breaking athlete who has represented our nation honorably and successfully at the Olympic Games on multiple occasions. “The charges are false and show what a brutal police state Miami Beach has become,” Cooper told the US broadcaster CBS News. “It is clear from all available arrest records that police overreacted to an otherwise peaceful interaction with Mr. Kerley.”

Kerley won at the Olympics 2021 in Tokyo Silver in the 100m and bronze in the same discipline at the Games 2024 in Paris. At the World Championships 2022 in Eugene he won the 100 m title. He also won World Cup gold twice with US relay teams.