Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley was tasered by police while being arrested in Miami and faces charges of disorderly conduct and battery, according to reports.
Kerley, 29, won the bronze medal in the men’s 100 metre sprint at the Olympics last summer. He took silver in Tokyo five years ago and is a former world champion over the distance.
He was arrested by Miami police on Thursday night after approaching the scene of an active investigation, according to the arrest report.
It is said that Kerley was concerned about his vehicle, which was parked nearby. Local police said that his demeanour became ‘increasingly aggressive’ and that he refused to leave the area despite being asked to do so.
Emergency back-up was called and Kerley was arrested on charges of resisting an officer without violence, disorderly conduct and battery.
A police statement read: “Despite officers’ efforts to de-escalate the situation, the defendant assumed a fighting stance and continued to ignore their lawful commands.
“When the officers attempted to effectuate his arrest, he actively resisted their efforts.
“Consequently, emergency back-up was requested, a dart-firing stun gun was effectively deployed, and the defendant was arrested without any further incident.”
The incident was reportedly captured on a police body camera. Kerley is expected to appear in court on Friday afternoon.
The man from Texas is the sixth-fastest man over 100 metres in history, behind only Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell and Justin Gatlin.
He set his personal best time of 9.76 seconds at the World Athletics Championships in 2022, taking home the gold medal ahead of British rival Zharnel Hughes.
Kerley is also one of three men to have run 100 metres in less than 10 seconds, 200 metres in under 20 seconds and 400 metres in less than 44 seconds. Last year, he starred in both seasons of Netflix’s athletics docuseries Sprint.
