- Police Brutality Watch

Three Miami Beach police officers have been suspended with pay amid allegations that they severely beat and subsequently broke the nose of a man who had been tossed out of a popular South Beach nightclub. Officers Elio Cruz, German Gutierrez and John Pereira had been placed on desk duty pending an internal affairs probe. But the three were then suspended with pay on Friday, Miami Beach police spokesman Robert Hernandez said. The internal affairs investigation stems from the Nov. 7 arrest of New York City resident Guillermo Cartagena. According to the police report, Cruz, Gutierrez and Pereira had been working off duty as outdoor security for Opium Garden. Cartagena, the report said, became unruly when asked to leave the premises. He then claimed to be a New York City police officer and swung at the officers, striking Gutierrez in the chest and Cruz in the shoulder. Cruz punched Cartagena in the face, then used a Taser stun gun while Cartagena was on the ground because he continued to kick and fight, police said. Cartagena was arrested and charged with intentional battery on a police officer, resisting arrest with violence, disorderly intoxication and impersonating a police officer. But Cartagena's parents, two retired New York City police officers, filed an excessive use of force complaint with the department's internal affairs unit, claiming their son was the victim of police brutality. On Tuesday, the charges against Cartagena were dropped after testimony from an independent eyewitness determined that the case ''could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt,'' said Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the state attorney's office. Cartagena's attorney, Keith Seltzer, said the officers fabricated details on the police report. ''The police beat up my client, caused severe injuries and then fabricated an entire story to justify what they did,'' Seltzer said. [more]