Miami Fire Rescue Lt. caught on camera punching handcuffed man on stretcher
MIAMI - A Miami Fire and Rescue Lieutenant spit on by a homeless man, then unleashes several punches on the man while he's on a stretcher and it was all caught on camera.
CBS 4's Chelsea Jones was outside of Jackson Memorial Hospital, where it happened back in October.
Arrest documents show that Antonio Cruz, the man who allegedly spit on that firefighter was on cocaine and heroin when he became irate.
Surveillance video shows the early morning hours of October 15th.
Arrest documents reveal Miami Fire Rescue was called to Northwest 22nd Court and Northwest 28th Street in Miami regarding a man on drugs.
That man, identified as 29-year-old Cruz, was located and later cuffed to a stretcher, before being transported here to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
In the surveillance video, you can see Cruz flailing about while on the stretcher appearing to be shouting.
It's unclear what was said, but according to arrest records, he spits on an unidentified Miami Fire Rescue lieutenant.
That's when you see that firefighter lose it, throwing punches at Cruz, while several people try and break it up.
We've reached out to the City of Miami Department of Fire Rescue and they gave us this statement:
"The department was made aware of a video released of an incident involving a Miami Firefighter. When this incident occurred, the individual was immediately relieved of duty. Our department is conducting an administrative investigation while this individual remains in a relieved of duty status."
Cruz was charged with aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer.
We've reached out to the local firefighters union for comment on this incident, but CBS4 was told they were in a board meeting.
