Miami Seaside cop convicted in 2021 vacationer beating will get probation – NBC 6 South Florida

A former Miami Beach officer found guilty of beating a tourist inside a hotel in 2021 has been sentenced to probation.

Kevin Perez was sentenced to six months of probation at a hearing Thursday, after an appeals court had recently upheld his guilty verdict.

Perez was initially facing a felony charge, but during trial, Judge Alberto Millian reduced it to a misdemeanor battery. Jurors found him guilty in February of 2023.

Perez was one of five Miami Beach police officers arrested after video showed multiple officers punching and kicking two tourists inside the Royal Palm Hotel.

Police said they tried to ticket Dalonta Crudup, a tourist visiting South Florida with his family in the summer of 2021, for parking his scooter illegally.

However, Crudup fled the scene, and police claim he assaulted an officer on the way to the hotel. The tourist ran inside the lobby, where video released by the State Attorney’s Office showed Miami Beach Police striking and slamming Crudup while trying to arrest him.

Throughout the years, most of the cases against the five officers have collapsed.

In May of 2023, NBC6 learned Judge Betsy Alvarez-Zane dropped Officer Robert Sabater and David Rivas’s criminal charges for a lack of evidence.

In May of 2024, NBC6 reported prosecutors cleared Steven Serrano of criminal charges after a separate appeals court decision, and there was a “gray area we wouldn’t be able to overcome with stand your ground.”

Sgt. Jose Perez pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation.