Unlike Justin Bieber’s music videos, a clip of him arriving at Miami Beach Police station to be processed and held after he was arrested for suspected DUI two weeks ago is likely not one he will be pleased to see released.
For reason best known to themselves, Miami police have released surveillance video of the 19-year-old which shows him just moments after his arrival at the South Florida station. The video was released on Thursday, the same day that Miami Police Chief Raymond Martinez defended his department from what one article called “extensive criticism” of Bieber’s arrest.
On January 23, Bieber was stopped and arrested on Pine Tree Drive in Miami Beach while driving a yellow Lamborghini along with R&B singer, Khalil Amir Sharieff, who drove a red Ferrari. Police described both as engaged in an illegal street drag race. The arrests took place just after 4 am.
A police report described Bieber as “belligerent” and “cocky” during the arrest. In addition, it stated the singer was repeatedly profane and had admitted taking prescription medication, consuming beer, and smoking marijuana. Officers added he failed a field sobriety test and had trouble with coordination.
Blood alcohol readings and a later toxicology report revealed Bieber had 0.011 and 0.014 levels in two out of four tests (the other two were aborted), and marijuana and Xanax present in his system at the time of his arrest.
Both singers were taken to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center for booking after Miami Beach Police Station.
Bieber was released on a $2,500 bond that same Thursday.
The teen star has been charged with DUI, resisting arrest without violence, and driving with an expired licence. Sharieff, with DUI.
Although without audio, the video shows Bieber walking in a slightly haphazard manner into the Miami Beach police station holding cell area to be processed.
At points in the video, the singer takes off his bright orange High-Tops and places them on a counter. He follows instructions to submit to a pat-down and spreads his legs. The searching officer asks him to remove his hoodie, chain, socks, and pull up his baggy trousers — which Bieber does, seemingly cooperatively —- and the frisking begins.
Speaking to 7News , Police Chief Martinez defended his officers arrest of the singer, in the wake of conflicting evidence that appears to indicate Bieber’s rented Lamborghini was not traveling between 55-60 mph [as stated by police] at the time he was spotted or stopped — according to a GPS tracking system installed in the car.
Of Bieber’s processing at the Miami Beach Police Station, Martinez said he thought officers behaved flawlessly, adding, “I was very confident, extremely confident they followed it by the book.”
Noting Bieber’s alleged F-bombs at arresting officers as not “an appropriate way to start off a conversation” with officials, Martinez went on to defend aspects of the case centering on speeds the cars reached during the alleged drag race.
(Second video of Holding Cell processing)
Notably, Martinez has lowered the 60 mph benchmark to “zero to 40,” which still exceeds the 30 mph limit in Pine Tree Drive but is lower than estimated in the police report.
“What the public has to understand is that the officer described his actions as drag racing, but he was not charged with drag racing,” Martinez told 7News .
“This is a residential street, Pine Tree Drive, where the speed limit is 30 miles an hour, and if you can imagine, at 4 am in the morning, a Lamborghini and a Ferrari going from zero to 40, opening up those engines. That’s what drew the officers’ attention to their actions.”
Asked about officers stating they could smell alcohol when they pulled Bieber – despite his negligible blood alcohol count – he replied:
“If you just consume a beer, or if you happen to spill some of that beer on your clothing or in the car, you could smell that as you approach.”
It remains to be seen if that scenario applied in Bieber’s case and whether a longer, audio-enhanced video of Bieber’s processing does reveal him as “cocky.” Whether there is any real value in the video being released other than public voyeurism isn’t really arguable.
Bieber’s legal team have pleaded not guilty on behalf of the singer ahead of a February 14 arraignment he is not expected to attend. A trial date alleged DUI and related charges has been set for March 3.
Let us know your thoughts about Bieber’s holding cell processing video and Police Chief Martinez’s comments below.