Monica Pais | Courthouse News Service
A South Florida model claims in court that she was beaten on two separate occasions and falsely arrested by an undercover Miami Beach police officer.
In a complaint filed January 4 in the federal court in Miami, plaintiff Megan Adamescu
In a complaint filed in the federal court in Miami, plaintiff Megan Adamescu says Officer Phillipe Archer was not wearing a recognized police uniform when he encountered her and attacked her.
Adamescu, who is a professional television and photography model, says that on June 26, 2013, she went to visit a friend at an apartment building in Miami Beach to retrieve some personal property.
However, an employee refused to allow her to enter the building and called the police, the complaint says.
According to a May 2015 article from The Miami Herald, the condominium’s concierge called the police because Adamescu was drunk in the lobby and didn’t want to leave the premises.
The Herald reported that as Archer was escorting Adamescu out of the building he asked her for identification, but since she was too drunk to give him her ID he decided to get her purse and get it himself.
In her complaint, Adamescu claims that when Archer arrived in the building he confronted her in an aggressive way, and since she didn’t know that he was a police officer, she tried to prevent him from grabbing her purse.
She says Archer responded by punching her in the face, and that after she fell from the force of the punch, he took her head and hit it against the pavement, Adamescu says.
The complaint says a bystander, Andrew Mossberg, who witnessed Archer’s alleged attack on Adamescu, tried to interfere and called 911 to report the incident.
“Archer, who was on duty but was not wearing a uniform, momentarily stopped beating Adamescu, and falsely arrested Mossberg, breaking his jaw in the process of the arrest,” the complaint says.
Adamescu claims that Archer punched Mossberg in the head and body several times while he was on the ground, handcuffed him and placed him in custody.
Mossberg and Adamescu were charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct.
Adamescu says that after the beating, Archer took her to the Miami Beach Police Department, and that after he handcuffed her to await processing, he punched her in the face again in the presence of other police officers.
Archer attempted to continue to assault Adamescu, but he was prevented from doing so by other police officers.
“At some point Adamescu was taken to the emergency room of Mt. Sinai hospital for the injuries she suffered from being beaten on two separate occasions by Archer,” the complaint says.
Adamescu alleges that she never struck or attempted to interfere with Archer’s duties as a police officer.
The second incident, the one occurring at Miami Beach police headquarters, was captured by a surveillance camera.
It shows Archer punching the cuffed Adamescu after she kicked him in the leg. As a result of the video, Archer, a 19-year veteran of the force, was suspended for a month without pay. Internal affairs investigators later found that no other punishment was warranted.
Meanwhile the charges against Adamescu were dismissed on Aug. 15, 2013.
The complaint claims that Archer has a long history of misconduct and civil rights violations during his employment with the City of Miami Beach, and that several cases had been filed against him prior to the night he allegedly battered Adamescu.
Despite this history, the complaint says, the City of Miami Beach has failed to “fire, reprimand, discipline, counsel, reassign or re-train” Archer.
Adamescu is seeking compensatory and punitive damages on claims of false arrest, battery, excessive force, retaliation and negligent supervision.
She is represented by Robert Harris of Miami.
Melissa Berthier, a spokeswoman for the City of Miami Beach, said the city does not comment on pending litigation.
Published by Courthouse News Service.