Danny Torres was placed on administrative leave by the Miami-Dade Police Department for his role in the arrest of Tyreek Hill. His brother stands by the officers’ behavior and places full blame on the Dolphins wide receiver.
He claims that the 27-year law enforcement veteran was simply protecting himself and those around him.
David Torres spoke exclusively with The Daily Mail about the incident, which took place on Sunday. According to his family, Danny is an “excellent cop” who deserves no fault. Hill “only has himself to blame” for what happened.
Bodycam footage of the arrest shows that Hill was unwilling to roll down the tinted window of his luxury sportscar. Torres then steps up to the door with a stern warning to “get out of the car” or he was going to “break that f—— window.”
At that point, he opened the McLaren’s butterfly door and yanked Hill from the vehicle. Torres threw him face-first to the ground and put a knee in the middle of his back.
David, three years younger than Danny, believes that his brother was acting in his own best interest.
The officers have every right to keep themselves safe. And that’s exactly what happened. They were keeping themselves safe.
— David Torres, via Daily Mail
In his opinion, the arresting officers were going off of Hill’s behavior. There was no way to know if he was going to reach for a gun behind the tinted window.
Nobody really wants to admit that Tyreek disrespected the police officers.
If you watch the video, he did not follow instructions from the get-go. He was yelling at the officer and telling him not to bang on his window. If you know anything about dealing with police officers, you know do not raise your window on them.
— David Torres, via Daily Mail
The wide receiver first explained that he did not roll down his window because he didn’t want to cause a scene. Hill later admitted that it was likely in his best interest to roll it down. His arresting officer’s brother would agree.
In response to the bodycam video, Miami-Dade Police Director Stephanie Daniels placed Danny Torres on administrative leave. She wanted to demonstrate her department’s “commitment to transparency.”
Danny’s lawyers call for his immediate reinstatement. David echos those demands.
My brother is a very charismatic guy, he’s every likable. Everywhere he goes people like him.
He’s got a strong character but you have to have one to be a South Florida cop for so long.
He’s just a straightforward, black and white kind of person. I don’t mean anything racial by that, I mean that he does things by the book.
I think he is an excellent cop. I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t be reinstated.
— David Torres, via Daily Mail
It is unclear how long Torres’ suspension will last. There is going to be a legal fallout from Tyreek Hill’s arrest that could take months, if not years, to fully resolve.
In the meantime, Danny Torres’ brother is speaking out on his behalf.