Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested Jordy Yanes Martel, 30, of Hialeah on two counts of official misconduct and four counts of battery. Yanes Martel, a former police officer with Miami Gardens Police Department, turned himself in earlier today at FDLE’s Miami office. FDLE began its investigation at the request of the State Attorney’s Office on June 11, 2020.
Charges stem from a January incident where Yanes Martel, then a police officer, was working off-duty security at Tootsie’s Cabaret on 183rd Street in Miami. The manager of the club told agents that he asked Yanes Martel to give the victim a trespass warning after she threw a tip at a waitress.
FDLE agents say the victim, a Black woman, was in her vehicle trying to leave the club when she was stopped by security. Yanes Martel told the victim she was being trespassed and told her to get out of her car and walk to his police car. The victim refused to walk to the police car and instead offered to drive over. While the suspect had no legal authority to detain the victim, he forcibly removed her from her vehicle.
Once he pulled her from her car, Yanes Martel took the victim to the ground and knelt on her neck. While officers had control over both of the victim’s arms, Yanes Martel tased the victim twice on the stomach. The victim suffered numerous cuts and bruises as well as abrasions on her stomach from the taser.
“It is so important that allegations of excessive use of force in law enforcement are fully investigated, not only for the betterment of the community, but also for those law enforcement officers dedicated to public service and helping others,” said FDLE Miami Special Agent in Charge Troy Walker. “We appreciate our partnership with State Attorney Kathleen Fernandez Rundle and Miami Gardens PD.”
“There is nothing innovative about recognizing that every member of our community deserves basic respect in their interactions with law enforcement,” noted State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “The alleged criminal acts we are pursuing today, represent a basic lack of respect with what we believe can be proven as a misrepresentation of the facts leading to a violent arrest. We cannot, and will not, tolerate such actions in this community, just as we will not tolerate the victimization of the truth in our search for justice.”
Yanes Martel was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on $6,000 bond. The investigation will be prosecuted by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. He was fired from Miami Gardens PD last week.
Yanes Martel is the subject of another FDLE investigation that is ongoing.
