MIAMI - A Miami family accused the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) of abuse of power and false imprisonment in a lawsuit filed on Feb. 23 in federal court.
The plaintifffs are Ignacio, Jorge and Lazaro Morales, who were all present at the Morales family home on Feb. 24, 2017, when the plaintiffs' brother, Teofilo Morales Jr., was working on his vehicle.
Several MDPD officers allegedly arrived at the home, startling Teofilo, who was carrying a firearm.
Teofilo's brothers came outside to take the gun from Teofilo and surrender it to law enforcement. Teofilo suffers from schizophrenia, the suit says.
According to the suit, despite the plaintiffs informing the officers that no one else was armed and that they were trying to calm their mentally ill brother, the officers drew their weapons and began to yell commands.
The situation escalated, allegedly at the hands of the officers, and the unarmed brothers were violently apprehended, resulting in injuries for some.
The Morales family accuses MDPD of misconstruing or manipulating events to prosecutors so that the plaintiffs were maliciously prosecuted, despite body camera footage showing no wrongdoing by the plaintiffs.
The defendants include Miami-Dade County; MDPD Director Juan J. Perez; and the following MDPD officers: Luis Sierra, Ingrid Rizzo, Bryan Young, Hunter Grimm, Christopher McKie, Leonardo Mebreno, Joseph Vallejos, Dalton Clark, Jorge Encinosa, Brian Sorrel, Abraham Fernandez and David Koivu.
The family sued MDPD for unlawful search and seizure, false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, battery, excessive force, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, failure to intervene, negligent hiring and retention, negligent training and supervision and governmental liability.
The plaintiffs are requesting punitive and compensatory damages for each charge in addition to litigation fees. The Morales family is represented by Anthony Hevia of Hevia Law Firm of Coral Gables.