Battery charge on Opa-locka cop who stung co-worker with Taser dropped on morning of trial

An Opa-locka police officer who’s been in and out of trouble for decisions he’s made while in uniform for over a decade, was suspended without pay over a year ago when the state charged him with battery for using his electronic Taser on a fellow cop.

But Tuesday, just before trial was to begin, state prosecutors dropped the charge against Capt. Sergio Perez, whose attorney produced documents showing the alleged victim initially told emergency room doctors that the Taser incident was an accident — contradicting what he told law enforcement.

Perez, 38, said he will seek reinstatement later this week.

“We subpoenaed the records and the state fought it,” said Perez’s attorney Rick Diaz. “He said [to doctors] in two instances he was accidentally Tasered.”

Diaz said Perez will seek to have Michael Steel de-certified as a law enforcement officer for his lies and he plans on filing lawsuits against Steel for malicious prosecution and Opa-locka for negligent hiring practices. Perez said he hasn’t worked during the suspension.

“Steel has a track record of malice against co-workers and always aspires to attain power by any means, including filing a false police report,” Perez said. “They [the state] spent so much time and money on this case and so did we — and it was all a lie.”

Steel couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday. State Attorney Spokesman Ed Griffith said his office was recently given a statement that “completely changed the complexion of our case.”

“In that it would no longer be able to prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt, due to an inconsistent statement made to a medical provider by the main witness,” Griffith said.

The state dropped the case after Diaz received records from urgent care at Baptist Health South Florida that were subpoenaed about a year ago. The records showed, according to Diaz, that less than two hours after the Sept. 2, 2021, Taser incident, Steel showed up and twice told doctors — and later police — that he was struck by a Taser after it was accidentally discharged.

That contradicts a statement Steel made to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, according to Perez’s arrest report. According to the arrest form, Steel told Perez six or seven times, “Don’t do it,” before he was struck from behind. In a sworn statement to FDLE, Steel said he “cringed” and told investigators Perez said, “Come on, Steel, this is for you. It’s yours after you take the hit.” He said when he sent photos of his bruises by text to his wife, she asked him if he had been shot.

FDLE investigators also determined that Perez — despite his claim — was not a certified trainer for the Taser product.

Anonymous Opa-locka email caused stir

The initial sordid incident was loaded with all the palace intrigue Opa-locka has become known for over the years.

It began with an anonymous encrypted email that was sent to elected leaders, state police, even the state attorney’s office. The email claimed the city manager at the time was running the police department and had threatened retaliation against anyone who publicized the allegations. It said Steel and Perez got into a verbal argument and that when Steel walked away, Perez fired the Taser at him, striking him in the backside near his buttocks.

Perez called the story hooey. He said he was in charge of demonstrating the new electronic Taser 7 to staff and that the incident happened when he went into Steel’s office. At one point, according to Perez, Steel jokingly aimed his Taser at Perez, who pointed and accidentally discharged the velcro tip of the new model Taser, which struck Steel.

Steel was at the hospital within two hours, but the incident wasn’t disclosed until a week later, with Steel blaming Perez. Eventually, Perez was demoted, charged in January 2022 and suspended. Steel, meanwhile, was promoted to captain, then acting chief. But by the end of October 2022, he was fired from Opa-locka without explanation.

Perez, who is married and has two children, is no stranger to headlines.

He was fired from Opa-locka in 2015, two years after an investigation determined he chased a vehicle the wrong way down Interstate 95, before the car he was chasing slammed into an SUV, killing four tourists. He would later be reinstated when an arbiter ruled the city’s probe into the car accident was flawed.

In November 2022, Perez was charged with a single count of misdemeanor battery after cellphone footage caught him and another Opa-locka officer dragging a mentally ill teen down some steps while his hands and feet were bound. The FDLE said Perez intentionally struck Jafet Castro-Reyes, who was 20 at the time, several times in the head, despite the protests of another officer on the scene. The case is pending.

Last year, Castro-Reyes filed a civil lawsuit in federal court accusing Opa-locka police of entering his home illegally, using excessive force and false imprisonment. The nine-count complaint, which was filed against the city, Perez and another officer, accuses Opa-locka of negligence in training officers to deal with the mentally ill. The case is pending.