Memorial Day Police Shooting Victims Are Suing Miami Beach

By Tim Elfrink Thu., May 24 2012 at 8:53 AM

At least five innocent bystanders were shot by police in this melee.

Remember last Memorial Day weekend on South Beach? Yes, that was the one when Miami Beach cops unloaded more than a hundred rounds into the car of Raymond Herisse, a Palm Beach resident police say tried to run them over on Collins Avenue. Not all those bullets hit Herisse, though.

At least five innocent bystanders were hit in the melee. A year later, they've still gotten no answers from Miami Beach about what happened or who's to blame. So just before this weekend's parties get started, the group has filed a pair of lawsuits against the city.

The shootout happened near 4 a.m. last May 30, after police say Herisse tried to hit them with his car. Cops opened fire near 14th St. and Collins Ave., in a barrage captured on camera that soon played on repeat on CNN and other networks.

Records show police unleashed more than 115 rounds. Two of those bullets hit Sarah Garcia, a 25-year-old from Naples, who was hit in the leg and the arm. Garcia ended up in a wheelchair for months and still hasn't gone back to her job at a Naples hospital; she's now filed a negligence suit against the city.

"She went from being someone who helped people for a living to being someone who needed that help and felt helpless,'' Bradley Winston, her attorney, tells the Miami Herald this morning.

Four others hit in the chaos -- Carlson St. Louis, 25, who was shot in the hip; Cedric Perkins, a Tallahassee man hit in the chest; and two others not named by the Herald -- have filed a separate open records lawsuit against the city.

That's because almost a year after the shooting, police still haven't released any records about who fired the shots that hit the bystanders. MBPD has given evidence to the State Attorney's Office, who continues to investigate.

The shooting victims' attorneys say the city should work faster to help those hit by the crossfire.

"Shooting hundreds of bullets is a reckless disregard for human life," Jasmine Rand, an attorney representing Perkins, tells the Herald.

The original, best video of the shooting has since been pulled from YouTube, but here's a good compilation of what it showed:

Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes, and stay on top of crime, politics and South Florida insanity by following Tim Elfrink @timelfrinkmia.

Tags:

Memorial Day, Miami Beach, shooting, Urban Beach Week

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smileyallen96

As a Christian the Bible states all flesh is trash to God. Not one drop of flesh and blood shall enter Heaven. As for these Negroes how did they get here? American history says they were brought here by force against their will to help build America. Once here they were abused, raped, hung, beaten, starved, drowned, shot, etc. No crime had they committed against their enslavers. They were never told what charges were filed against them. No trial by jury. No representation by counsel. No sentence pronounced in a court of law. Held as prisoners without just cause. Inspite of all this they eith God's help survived against a brutal merciless assault for hundreds of years. They became inventors, educators and made significant discoveries that enriched the lives of everyone on earth, still enjoyed by the world now. Again, they are still being mistreated by people who erroneously think they are better than they. Here the police continue the brutality of history in the guise of law and order. The reason why this case lingers is because the evidence does not match their false claim against the alleged offender. As a Christian I also recognize the reality of fallen angels and their influence in human government including most police. The world will eventually come to the ultimate fact we are created beings and have never been the only intelligent beings on earth.

Zimmerman's Back

Bring in SWAT and Spec Ops and rid the USA of these human trash .

Taxpayers pay

Who gets stuck with the bill to pay the 1,000cops required when Miami Beach gets overrun by gangbangers? Who pays to clean up the trash the lowlife Negroes leave behind?

gonzoopz

Our military has stricter engagement polices in a time of war then the so called peace officers.

Get shot on Sobe

Why were there ghetto people on the streets at 4:00 am? Buying drugs? Littering? Go ahead, walk around at 4:00 am. Get shot.

rich

LOL - I guess you've never been to South Beach. There are many people leaving clubs at that time. It doesn't mean they were buying drugs or littering, and it certainly doesn't mean that they deserve to be shot.

Ghetto people

100 shots? 115 shots? Hello ghetto people. Stay home. Come to South Beach risk getting shot.

Rwoodmiami1

way to go cops!!! that should teach "these" people that they cannot just come down here and destroy miami beach... stay in your god damn ghettos and do your own shit in them we (miami) do NOT want y'all in our beaches and streets..... BRAVO MIAMI BEACH POLICE!!!!

Stay home!

Any tourists walking around South Beach at 4:00am deserve to get shot. What the Fu*k were they thinking? There are hundreds of trigger happy cops walking around looking to shoot any black or gay people who shows them disrespect.

luke

I live in south beach and locals we dont like this festivity. You wont beleive what I witness in the memorial day weekend since 2001. To make the sotr short.....they should ban this festivity out of south beach.

Count L.F. Chudzikiewicz herb.

Look, back in 1995 our neighborhood complained about rampant drug dealing and the attitude of the Police was that "well, South Beach is a poor neighborhood, when conversations and new apartments go up and the poor get pushed off the Beach things will be better". The police chief and his assistant Donnie Delucca while we were trying to fight drug dealing went around writing to the Mayor, City Manager, and Commissioners we were "crazy" and there was NO DRUG PROBLEM! To cover up Police Chief Barretto gave an award to a lobbyist and columnist who defended the police in the Sun Post and he attacked us in his columns, too. This is the bunch who "trained" Carlos Noriega and now Raymond Martinez, the former and current chiefs. Look everyone knows the City Manager, Police and Fire Unions work together to rip off the City with bloated salaries, bloated pensions, and little to show for it! That CIVILIANS go!t hit by bullets aimed at a CAR shows what kind of Police Force Miami Beach has, but, hey, the harass the Mayor and Commissioners' and City Manager's critics, so they just stay on and on until their bloated pensions "kick in". Who respects a system that pays Donnie Delucca something like 196,000 dollars a year in pension at 50 or 51 while he works full time I believe for 100,000 dollars and benefits as Police Chief in Golden Beach, the nearest thing to a non job on the planet

nanook5

1 Like

smh...i used to think dexter was hilarious because every week there'd be another vicious serial killer running amuck in miami...what i've learned is that they're ALL police in first life and they don't have to hide the fact that they're nutcases, their bosses cover up for them every time.