For Randy Kotnik, it was supposed to be a fun outing at Hard Rock Stadium to see a University of Miami football game with his friends and girlfriend.
“My girlfriend has season tickets and she wanted to take me,” Kotnik said.
“His first time, seeing the cheerleaders, the football players coming out, the band playing, the whole experience, the whole UM Cane experience,” said his girlfriend, Sue.
But that’s not exactly the experience Kotnik had that Thursday, September 14.
“I walked in the wrong spot, and it changed my life,” he said.
Surveillance video provided by his attorney shows him taken to the ground then placed in handcuffs, all before the game even started.
“I was just walking and then all of a sudden, I got grabbed from behind and then I felt another person grabbed me from the other side,” he said. “And then, people were trying to throw me on the ground.”
Kotnik says he’s still not sure why but according to a Miami-Dade Police report obtained by the NBC6 Investigators, he “walked off the walking path and into an area that was being restricted for the security of the University of Miami band and cheer teams.”
The report goes on to say Lt. Roberto Irizarry asked Kotnik to stop—but Kotnik “pushed away” from him. Then, when the lieutenant tried to grab Kotnik by his left arm, he says Kotnik swung his arm back, striking him, and walked away.
Kotnik’s defense attorney Hilton Napoleon II says what’s written in the report does not match what he sees in the video.
“Mr. Kotnik never struck the officer,” he said. “As you can see from the cameras, other people were allowed to walk through.”
“I’m right there, my friends are right there,” Kotnik said, pointing at the surveillance video.
NBC6 Investigators reviewed several surveillance videos from Hard Rock Stadium with him along with his attorney and the friends who went to the game with him.
It appears to show people walking through the area after the cheerleaders’ procession, including Kotnik’s group.
“Not one officer said a word,” Sue said.
The cameras were far away. We had to zoom all the way in and slow the video down. Even then, it’s hard to see but it appears a uniformed officer is closing a section of the gate. Then, another one steps into the path of upcoming pedestrians. Kotnik pointed at him in the video, as he is walking by that officer.
It’s unclear what happened at that moment. But within seconds, you can see officers converged and take him to the ground.
“I didn’t know what was going on until I was on the ground. I felt metal being put around my wrists,” he said.
Kotnik was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, which is a felony, and resisting arrest without violence.
His girlfriend, Sue, says no one would tell them why he was being arrested at the time.
“It was very emotional and very disturbing to see someone know that you love on the ground getting hurt by all these officers for no reason,” she said.
Video shows Kotnik with a bandaged hand being led through the stadium before being taken to jail.
“Like my hands primarily scarred,” he said, when asked if he was injured.
NBC6 Investigators showed the video to defense attorney and former prosecutor Ramon “Ray” de la Cabada.
“From what I can look at, I don’t see any criminal behavior on the part of this gentleman,” he said, adding what’s concerning is the officers’ reaction to Kotnik.
“It just seems overly excessive to me,” he said, referring to the moment Kotnik was taken to the ground.
“You have multiple people who are I’m assuming law enforcement covering almost like a huddle. They’re all on top of him,” he added.
Two months after the arrest, the Miami-Dade State Attorney dismissed the battery charge against Kotnik.
NBC6 Investigators asked the Miami-Dade Police Department about that decision and the arrest. A spokesperson told us in an email, in part, “everyone has a constitutional right of due process, and we accept the decision set forth in the pursuit of justice.”
As for Lt. Irizarry, who accused Kotnik of striking him, the department told NBC6 he is on active duty and there was no internal affairs investigation into this incident. His union didn’t respond to our requests.
“The idea that certain law enforcement people think ‘well, we’ll arrest them, we will let the courts sort it out’ and they are not taking into account the damage of the arrest,” de la Cabada said.
“Financially, it’s killed me and then professionally, it’s just ruined my career,” Kotnik said.
Kotnik, who makes his living as a nurse, shared a letter from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, letting him know he is disqualified from working with a health care provider licensed by the agency.
The agency didn’t provide any information about the status of the case or the letter, just explaining its staff reviews background checks for employment in health care facilities regulated by the agency in accordance to Florida law.
“It’s a lot to deal with, to not be able to support yourself,” he said. “I have a daughter.”
Kotnik is still facing a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without violence. He has pleaded not guilty. The trial is set for January.
“Just seems very unfair,” he said.
