The officer claimed that the man started acting rude and told him to leave the Target at 249 NW Sixth St. around 7 p.m. As the man allegedly refused to leave, the officer demanded he get off his bike.
"This is going to be the last time I tell you," the officer is captured on video telling the man. "Are you going to get off the bike or no? You going get off the bike or I'm going to make you get off the bike. I'm not going to ask you again."
"What are you arresting me for?" the man questioned.
A bystander's video documented the officer forcibly removing the man from the bike and taking him to the ground. Suddenly, a tiny pup that looked to be a Yorkshire Terrier popped out of one of the man's tote bags and scurried away amid the scuffle.
That moment echoed the scene of a pooch caught in the chaos as fans rushed the gates at Hard Rock Stadium before the 2024 Copa América final.
"What is going on?" the man asked as he was taken to the ground. It was not immediately clear why the fracas began or why the officer wanted the man to leave.
As the video made the rounds on social media, New Times wanted to know what happened to the pup and why the officer tackled the man.
According to the arrest report, Rosario Saint-Geraud yelled and shouted profanities after the officer told him to leave the front of the store.
"[Saint-Geraud] states he can say and do what he wants, it's his constitutional right," the officer wrote in the arrest report. "I then asked Saint-Geraud to leave again, but [he] continued to yell and scream, causing pedestrians to stop, stare, and record."
After the officer said the 47-year-old continued to ignore his commands and yell and scream, the officer tackled him to the ground and arrested him. The officer did not mention the Yorkie in his report aside from the fact that the dog will be at the animal services department until Saint-Geraud is released from Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
"While completing the arrest affidavit, the defendant made verbal threats stating he 'don't give a fuck nigga. You can get hit. You can get switched,'" the police officer claimed.
Saint-Geraud was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct and breach of the peace, and trespassing.
