Public outcry over the arrests of Bradenton resident Orlando Diaz, 72, and his autistic son, Francisco Diaz-Burgos, 30, has reached fever pitch.
But many of the charges against the pair may stick.
Diaz is facing two criminal charges as his son faces five, including four felonies, following a Sept. 10 struggle during a traffic stop in the city of Holmes Beach.
Police Chief Bill Tokajer told The Islander Oct. 31 that bodycam footage of the incident had been reviewed by 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Ed Brodsky and two of his staff attorneys, Cynthia Evers and Dawn Buff.
According to Tokajer, they “all said the charges were appropriate, and the officers appeared to act within policy.”
However, the same bodycam footage has stirred calls from the public for action against Tokajer and the arresting officers.
The Holmes Beach Police Department’s Facebook page had been mobbed with public comments on recent posts criticizing the arresting officers’ actions and Tokajer’s handling of the situation.
The HBPD received more than 650 comments on an Oct. 30 repost of an Anna Maria Elementary School reel about returning to school — but most of the comments were directed to the Diaz incident.
Ryan Holzinger, a Facebook user from Muskegon, Michigan, commented Nov. 1 that “This department is a dangerous liability to the community and will lie even though it was caught on camera. The police chief needs to be fired and not allowed to resign.”
“What a couple of studs! From the sound of their breathing, they had all they could handle beating that 72-year-old man unconscious. The chief’s reaction shows that the rot goes all the way to the top,” Facebook user Michael Edward Evans, of Houston, Texas, commented Oct. 31.
“I hope you’re proud of yourselves with the way you treat American citizens over a minor traffic violation — aggressive, bullying police like this don’t deserve to interact with the public,” Facebook user Randy Deuel, of Des Moine, Iowa, commented Nov. 1. “You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
The arrest
A Holmes Beach police officer was patrolling around 8 p.m. when he received a ping from the city’s license plate recognition system about a vehicle whose registered owner, Diaz, had an expired/suspended driver’s license.
The officer found the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop.
Diaz and his son were in the front of the vehicle, and Diaz’s wife was in the rear seat.
The officer asked Diaz-Burgos to exit the passenger seat to assist with translation due to a language barrier.
Diaz had been convicted before for driving with an expired or suspended license and after asking some questions, the officer began to handcuff the man and explained that he was under arrest.
As the officer went to handcuff Diaz, the man became emotional and tried to pull away.
At that point, Diaz-Burgos got between the officer and his father and tried pulling him away.
The officer drew his taser and warned Diaz-Burgos to stop interfering with the arrest. While he did not immediately comply, his mother pulled him away and seated him inside the vehicle.
The officer brought Diaz to the ground, arrested the man and placed him in his patrol vehicle.
There, Diaz became unresponsive, appearing to lose consciousness.
Manatee County Emergency Medical Services were called to the scene to treat Diaz.
In the meantime, backup officers arrived. They went to the vehicle, asked Diaz-Burgos to exit and notified him that he was under arrest.
Tokajer said in an Oct. 3 interview with Noticias Telemundo that “the kid came out kicking and punching.”
Bodycam footage shows Diaz-Burgos questioned his arrest, but was not physical until an officer brought him to the ground, where he reportedly punched that officer.
Bodycam footage shows Diaz-Burgos questioned his arrest, but was not physical until an officer brought him to the ground, where he reportedly punched that officer.
Tokajer told The Islander Nov. 3 that he misspoke, having confused the case with another from the same week that involved the same officers.
“I confused it and that was my mistake,” he said. “I’ve been transparent from the moment I got (here). … When I make a mistake, I’m big enough to say I made a mistake.”
The officer deployed his taser on the son, Diaz-Burgos, multiple times and after gaining compliance, arrested him.
EMS evaluated Diaz-Burgos and his father, who regained consciousness and was responsive.
They were transported to HCA Florida Blake Hospital in Bradenton, where they were medically cleared before they were taken to the Manatee County jail.
The results
Diaz was released Sept. 11 after posting $3,000 bond.
He was initially charged with a first-degree misdemeanor for resisting without violence and a third-degree felony for a third or subsequent conviction for driving with a suspended license.
While the misdemeanor stuck, the felony charge was dropped to a first-degree misdemeanor for driving with a suspended license after a prior conviction.
An arraignment was set for 8:55 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6, at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W, Bradenton.
Diaz-Burgos was released from jail Oct. 3 after posting $50,000 bond.
He was charged with four third-degree felony charges for resisting police with violence, as well as a first-degree misdemeanor for resisting without violence.
There were no court hearings scheduled for Diaz-Burgos as of Nov. 4.
A GoFundMe campaign was launched Sept. 28 to fundraise $60,000 for the Diaz family for bail, medical bills and legal fees, titled “Justice for Francisco Diaz: Help Us Fight!”
As of Nov. 3, the campaign had raised $35,230 from 1,532 donations.