On April 16, 2021, Miami Police Department (MPD) officer Alexander Garcia-Contreras was filmed shoving, slamming, and punching a homeless man as he detained him for allegedly shoplifting chicken from a Publix on Biscayne Boulevard. Cellphone video shows shoppers watching in shock as the officer violently took the then-58-year-old man, Willie Barbor, into custody inside the deli section of the grocery store.
MPD suspended Garcia-Contreras with pay as it launched an investigation into the officer.
After a nearly 20-month-long probe, Miami city manager Arthur Noriega notified Garcia-Contreras that his employment was being terminated. In conjunction with a scheduled meeting today, the city's civil service board revealed that the officer's last day was November 10.
Neither the police department nor Noriega responded to New Times' request for comment via email on the officer's firing.
The footage of Garcia-Contreras added to a string of incidents in which Miami-area police have been caught on camera engaging in questionable use of force. Though the Miami Police Department has a long history of police brutality accusations, recent years have seen a new era of police accountability with the agency using body-worn cameras and residents growing more comfortable with recording incidents on their smartphones.Miami Police officer suspended with pay pending investigation into violent arrest of homeless man accused of shoplifting chicken at Publix on Biscayne Blvd. and 17th Street #BecauseMiami #CafecitoTalk #MiamiTech: https://t.co/V0dFrh6VCW pic.twitter.com/7iExVOBjA8
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) April 28, 2021
Last April, Garcia-Contreras was working an off-duty gig at the Publix when the store manager summoned him about Barbor allegedly thieving and eating a piece of cooked chicken from the deli, according to an arrest report. When the manager asked Barbor to pay, he allegedly replied, “Fuck you... I don’t have any money."
Cellphone footage of the incident obtained by the Miami Herald shows Barbor backing away from Garcia-Contreras with his hands in the air when the officer shoves Barbor into a stand of food, slams him onto the ground, and punches him multiple times in the head. As the officer pummels Barbor, patrons are heard in the background gasping in shock. The footage quickly reached an international audience.
Barbor was arrested on charges of petty theft, resisting without violence, and disorderly conduct. Prosecutors dismissed the criminal case against him days later.
Following the incident, the president of Miami's Fraternal Order of Police union, Tommy Reyes, defended Garcia-Contreras and told the Herald that he believed the officer's actions in detaining Barbor were justified.
Reyes tells New Times he stands by his previous comments, calling Garcia-Contreras' termination "excessive" and "improper."
He notes that the union has already filed an appeal with the city regarding his firing. "We are standing by him. We are supporting him, and we will be defending him through the process," Reyes tells New Times.
Garcia-Contreras joined MPD in 2015. He reportedly had three citizen complaints, one administrative complaint, and seven use-of-force incidents during his time with the department.
According to Local 10 News, one incident involved a similar encounter in which the officer allegedly punched a man without reasonable cause while taking him into custody after an altercation between the man and a security guard near a Wynwood club, where Garcia-Contreras was working an off-duty job. Internal affairs investigated and found Garcia-Contreras had acted discourteously.
