SARASOTA, Fl. – An officer was caught on camera, appearing to throw peanuts at a homeless man in handcuffs. The Chief of Florida's Sarasota Police Department said she's disappointed and the department is embarrassed over the incident.
The cop appears to throw peanuts in the man's mouth, like he was a circus animal. He commands the man to catch the peanuts.
The man misses, and stares at the floor, looking for the food, the officer throws another peanut, and this time, the guy catches it, the cop clearly congratulates himself, then laughs at the homeless man and leans back to get a better look, while the guy searches for the peanut he missed. It's all caught on camera, and this is just the beginning.
"I was disgusted, disappointed, then started thinking about why do we always have these incidents in Sarasota?” said Michael Barfield, Vice- President of the Florida ACLU chapter.
He called what happened in the video humiliating and said that Officer Andrew Halpin has had disciplinary problems before with the department.
The ACLU maintains that the cop should be fired.
"We have to send a message that this kind of behavior is not going to be tolerated," Barfield said.
The video shows Officer Halpin going back for more, even taunting the homeless man by leaning back and forth with another peanut, teasing the guy -- even giving him dog commands, according to sources.
The guy under arrest is 44-year-old Randy Miller, who has a long rap sheet -- mostly trespassing charges -- including this arrest.
Miller is seen crawling on the ground, eating the peanuts he missed off the floor, while cops are watching.
Officer Halpin has been with the department since 2006.
He is now on paid administrative leave while internal affairs investigate.
The ACLU plans to meet soon with the chief, and they want to meet with the man in the video, Randy Miller.
