Police officer removed from job after arresting Tyreek Hill before Dolphins game

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins tight end Tyreek Hill was handcuffed and left face down on the street outside the team’s stadium after being pulled over for speeding and reckless driving Sunday morning. Dolphins’ first game of the seasonan incident that surprised the star and led to the police officer being placed on administrative leave.

The officer, whose identity has not been released, was one in every of not less than three people involved in Hill’s arrest. Some fans saw Hill being handcuffed and filmed him on his method to the game, and quickly it went viral on social media.

Miami-Dade Police Director Stephanie V. Daniels said she has launched an internal investigation.

When told after the game that the officer had been placed on probation pending the final result of the investigation, Hill said, “That should tell you everything you need to know.”

Defensive point guard Calais Campbell was added to the lineup, and was also briefly handcuffed after coming to assistance from his teammate: “It makes sense given the situation.”

Hill, who said he respected cops and desired to be one when he retired from football, admitted he had “no idea” why police handcuffed him.

“I wasn’t naughty, because my mom didn’t raise me that way,” Hill said. “I didn’t swear. I didn’t do anything like that. Like I said, I’m still trying to figure it out, man.”

Hill was a star on the sphere for the Dolphins, catching seven passes for 130 yards — including 80-yard touchdown which helped Miami to a 20-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hill celebrated the result by pretending to be handcuffed.

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Hill, who’s black, said he didn’t need to use his fame to get out of the situation, but he wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t been an NFL star.

“I don’t want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets a little iffy when you’re doing this,” he said. “What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? God knows what that guy or guys would have done. I just made sure I did what my uncle always told me to do when I’m in that situation: ‘Just listen, put your hands on the wheel and just listen.’”

Daniels said in a press release earlier Sunday that she had requested an “immediate review” of the small print surrounding the incident, adding that the department would review available footage from the officer’s body-worn cameras.

In a later statement, Daniels said, “I am committed to transparency and accountability to the community in every situation my officers are involved in.”

Hill admitted that all of it happened so quickly that it caught him by surprise.

“I’m just happy that my teammates were there to support me through that situation because I felt alone,” Hill added.

Campbell said he was driving into Hard Rock Stadium when he saw Hill handcuffed and stopped to assist. The 17-year NFL veteran also ended up in handcuffs, saying officers told him it was because he disobeyed their direct orders.

“I saw, I felt, that excessive force was being used, so I got out of the car to try to de-escalate the situation,” Campbell said, calling the incident “a little extreme.”

Hill, who led the NFL in receiving yards in 2023, said he spoke together with his wife and family after he was stopped and before the game began.

His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, called it a “heartbreaking situation” on ESPN.

“How things escalated to the situation where they were in handcuffs and being held on the ground by police is beyond me,” Rosenhaus said. “I’m deeply concerned. Very concerned. We’ll look into it. We’ll look into it. We’ll keep an eye on Tyreek, but I’m not going to make any charges at this point. The bottom line is Tyreek is doing well physically, mentally he was very shaken up about what happened.”

This is not the primary off-field incident involving Hill.

He was accused of hitting his girlfriend in college and kicked off the Oklahoma State team. In 2019, prosecutors in suburban Kansas City declined to charge Hill after alleged domestic violence incident featuring his fiancée and their 3-year-old child.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league had contacted the Dolphins about Sunday’s incident but declined to comment further.