Was it a brutal arrest? FIU student from Italy hog-tied by police in jail holding cell

A Florida International University student from Italy was hog-tied by police in a jail holding cell after he was arrested outside a strip club in North Miami Beach, according to body camera footage.



Snippets of the footage, first released by Italian media outlets this week, have stirred up controversy in the European country, with some slamming officers’ treatment of 26-year-old Matteo Falcinelli as rough and excessive.

Falcinelli was arrested in the early morning hours of Feb. 25 at Dean’s Gold, a strip club located at 2355 NE 163rd St in North Miami Beach.

The arrest has even come to the attention of Italian leaders. Antonio Tajani, the minister of foreign affairs, condemned the “violent” arrest, and U.S. government officials on Wednesday acknowledged Italian officials’ concerns, according to news agency ANSA.

“The foreign ministry will follow Mr. Falcinelli’s case with balance and respect for the US institutions, but also with all the necessary strength,” Tajani said.

The clips released to the public show Falcinelli being detained outside the club — and later restrained inside a holding cell at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Representatives with the North Miami Beach Police Department declined to comment Tuesday but said they will release a detailed statement later this week.

Attorney Chad Piotrowski, who is representing Falcinelli, told the Miami Herald that the use of force was “excessive in response to the situation.”

“The troubling part was watching the officers hog-tie him while he was alone in a locked cell,” Piotrowski said. “He wasn’t a threat to himself or the officers while in the holding cell. There was absolutely no reason to hog-tie the poor kid like that. They didn’t have to do that. It was hard to watch.“

Conflicting accounts?

Amid the controversy, the limited body camera footage obtained by Italian media — and the narrative in Falcinelli’s arrest report — seemingly offer a different version of events.

In the report, police allege that Falcinelli “intentionally” touched two officers and didn’t comply by tensing and pulling away. The officers, who were off-duty but working at the club, noticed Falcinelli “causing a disturbance” after being kicked out.

The Italian national told the officers that he wanted $500 that he spent in the club back, according to the report. He was then “given multiple lawful commands to leave the premises to which he did not comply.”

“After multiple commands to stop, officers attempted to place [Falcinelli] into custody after continuously touching both officers however; they were unable to do so as he began to brace, tense and pull away from officers,” the report states.

They were able to “redirect” Falcinelli to the ground, where they placed him in custody, the report states. At some point, Falcinelli “sustained” a scrape and swelling to the left side of his face due to “being on the ground.”

The report makes no mention of Falcinelli at the jail, aside from him being transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center for “further booking and processing.” Falcinelli was facing two counts of battery on a police officer as well as misdemeanor trespassing and resisting an officer without violence charges. In April, Falcinelli agreed to complete a diversion program, court records indicate.

But body camera footage shows Falcinelli, possibly intoxicated, outside the strip club asking police officers to retrieve his phone from the club. When they approach Falcinelli, they told him to leave the premises, to which he replied: “I have my rights.”

Falcinelli then asked an officer for their name, according to the video. The officer stayed silent. Seconds later, he appears to touch part of the officer’s uniform.

“You don’t touch that,” the officer said.

“You touch me, you go to jail,” Falcinelli replied.

Falcinelli continued mentioning his phone, which he repeatedly said he left inside the club. He asked for other officers’ names and was, again, instructed him to go home. Tension continued to bubble.

“I have my right. Give me my freaking phone,” Falcinelli shouted. “Shut the f--- up, you and you.”

According to the footage, Falcinelli appeared to grab toward a cop before the officer yanked him by the arm. After a struggle, Falcinelli was tackled to the ground. The video appeared to show an officer placing their knees around his neck and shoulder area.

Falcinelli, screaming in pain, was ordered to stop resisting.

“I’m not resisting,” he said. “I’m not resisting.”

When cuffed and placed inside a police cruiser, Falcinelli said: “He just hit me, Hit me. Hit me. Look at me. Look at me. With no reason.”

The video of Falcinelli’s interaction with police doesn’t end there, however.

Footage, taken at the jail, showed officers hog-tying Falcinelli inside a jail holding cell. Hog-tying, a controversial restraint method that the Department of Justice has warned against since 1990s, has been banned in police departments across the country.

On the ground, and restrained by his hands and legs, Falcinelli pleaded with officers.

‘Uncover the truth’

When Falcinelli’s mother Vlasta Studenicova traveled to South Florida to visit her son after his arrest, he, in tears, told her that he had never needed a hug from her more than in that moment, Studenicova told Rai Italia, the national TV news station in Italy.

During the interview, Studenicova said she recently saw the body camera footage for the first time — despite Falcinelli’s arrest being weeks ago.

“Before we were going by the written police report, which was completely different from what was captured on the body cam,” Studenicova said. “It was only when we came into possession of the body cam that we were able to see the truth about what really happened.”

The video, she said, has provided some answers about what happened to Falcinelli.

“We were not only able to see this atrocity [for the first time], but also uncover the truth about what really happened,” she said.

Her son, Studenicova said, did nothing but touch the police officer’s badge with his finger to find out which department he worked for so could he file a complaint. After the incident escalated, officers hit him in the head, and he was on the ground covered in blood, Studenicova said. She noted that her son told police that they could “kill [him] right here” and that his rights were being violated.

“At that point, the assault starts, but during the arrest they don’t just subdue him, they put a knee on his neck impeding his breathing, like in the sad case of George Floyd,” Studenicova said. “Then, they keep the knee on his neck even when he is already completely subdued.”



She also said her son feared being killed by police — and that the incident changed him forever.

“...Matteo is a boy full of life and dreams. He was a sunny boy, a soccer player, a boy open to everyone, and he had great hopes,” Studenicova said in Italian. “And now, instead, he is totally destroyed psychologically because of what he has experienced. He has nightmares.”