An 18-year-old man was on the roof of a home in Kissimmee, Florida, with an officer when the officer was ordered to “push him off.”
The man was accused of taking off with his girlfriend's car and, when officers showed up to get his side of the story, he ran through the house and up onto the roof.
The Kissimmee Police Department now says the actions taken by the officer on the roof should never have happened.
Police body camera video shows the man on the edge of the roof, about 9 feet above the ground.
His feet were dangling off the side of the roof when the officer received an order to “push him off.”
Kissimmee police said two of their own wrongfully put the man in danger. He was not injured, but the Kissimmee police chief said he could have been.
The video shows officers telling the man "Come down," and "You're going to get tased and you're going to fall. So, you better jump."
When the man wouldn't jump, police said Sgt. Anthony Amada, who was on the ground, repeatedly told Officer Plenio Massiah, who was on the roof, to push him.
“Push him off the roof. Push him off. Just push him off. Push him off,” Amada said.
Massiah did push the man off and after he hit the ground, Amada hit him with a Taser.
Kissimmee police launched an internal investigation into the actions of the officer and the sergeant. The final report says investigators considered "Officer Massiah's orders to push the suspect."
According to the report, Massiah said he feared a struggle between him and the suspect on the roof could've led to them both falling off.
Due to the incident, the department suspended Massiah for eight hours, "for failing to follow KPD general order,” saying, “Members shall use only the degree of force necessary to affect lawful objectives."
Police Chief Jeff O'Dell said, “Massiah's decision to push the suspect off the roof could have resulted in significant injury."
Amada resigned from the department in June. He had just been disciplined for a separate case when this investigation started.
The Internal Affairs report says he would've been fired for this case, because his order to push the man off the roof, "is not indicative of a supervisor with 14 years of experience."
Massiah worked for the Daytona Beach Police Department before working in Kissimmee. Records show this is the first time he's been disciplined for his actions.
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