The South Florida Police Benevolent Association alleges that Dolphins star receiver Tyreek Hill was causing a “great risk of danger” with his driving and was “uncooperative” when cops pulled him over and detained him outside of Hard Rock Stadium hours before the team’s Week 1 win over the Jaguars on Sunday.
Video showed Hill, 30, in handcuffs and being placed belly first on the ground. He was cited for careless driving and a seatbelt violation, according to ESPN, before being released at the scene.
“Before the Dolphins game yesterday, an incident occurred where Tyreek Hill was placed in handcuffs before being released,” South Florida PBA president Steadman Stahl wrote in a release. “First, to be clear, at no time was he ever under arrest. He was briefly detained for officer safety, after driving in a manner in which he was putting himself and others in great risk of danger.
“Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers on the scene who, pursuant to policy and for their immediate safety, placed Mr. Hill in handcuffs. Mr. Hill, still uncooperative, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore redirected to the ground.
“Once the situation was sorted out within a few minutes, Mr. Hill was issued two traffic citations and was free to leave.”
Hill, who performed a handcuff celebration after scoring an 80-yard touchdown in the game, said afterward he had “no idea” why he was handcuffed, and his agent Drew Rosenhaus expressed displeasure with how his client was treated.
The Miami-Dade Police Department has launched an Internal Affairs investigation and placed one officer involved in the incident on administrative leave.
“While we are confident in the actions that led to the stop of Mr. Hill, as with any investigation, we will wait for all of the facts to come out, along with any explanation Mr. Hill may have for his actions that initiated this unfortunate incident,” Stahl said.
Dolphins defensive lineman Calais Campbell said he was also handcuffed at the scene.