The Miami-Dade police union is telling its side of the story after officers placed Miami Dolphins star receiver Tyreek Hill in handcuffs during a traffic stop prior to Sunday’s game. Video of the incident quickly went viral on social media.
Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, claims Hill was put in handcuffs because he was being “uncooperative.” According to Stahl, Hill “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 scene who, pursuant to policy and 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,” Stahl said in a statement obtained by Fox Sports 640’s Andy Slater.
Stahl said Hill was never placed under arrest and that the wide receiver was released within minutes after being placed in handcuffs.
Hill wasn’t the only Dolphins player who cops detained. Calais Campbell was also placed in handcuffs after pulling over to offer Hill supoort.
Hill received two traffic citations, while Campbell was not cited, according to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington.
The incident didn’t stop Hill from having one of his best games with the Dolphins. Hill ended up with 130 receiving yards, including an 80-yard touchdown. He celebrated his TD catch by pretending to being placed in handcuffs.
Hill sounded off on his detainment after the Dolphins’ come-from-behind win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill opens up about incident with police
“Right now, I’m still trying to put it all together … I still don’t know what happened,” Hill said, via ESPN. “But I do want to use this platform to say, ‘What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill?’ Worst-case scenario, you know? … Everybody has bad apples in every situation, but I want to be able to use this platform to figure out a way to flip this and make it a positive on my end and Miami-Dade and do something positive for the community.
“It’s hard. I don’t want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets kind of iffy when you do. What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? Lord knows what those guys would have done. I just wanted to make sure I was doing what my uncle always told me to do whenever you’re in a situation like that — put your hands on the steering wheel and just listen.”
One of the officers involved in the incident has been placed on administrative duties.