January 2, 2025 – Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley found himself in a rather unpleasant situation. A bodycam footage released by the Miami Beach Police Department features Kerley having a tense exchange with the police. What started with the police approaching the Olympic medalist soon evolved into something much more intense. “One officer raises a hand that pushes sideways against Kerley’s chest, Kerley bats the hand away, before an arm pushes Kerley and an altercation starts.”, reported CNN. Before Fred Kerley knew it, he was arrested and stun-gunned, slapped with charges of battery, resisting officers, and disorderly conduct. This life isn’t all too unfamiliar for the sprinter, but he had thought a particular partnership had enabled him to leave it all behind.
Shortly after winning the NCAA Division 1 championship, the Olympian signed up with Nike in 2017. The Nike contract was Kerley’s ticket out of the unsafe and reckless environment he was familiar with. “If I don’t sign that contract, I’m still in the streets,”. Kerley’s brothers had already been incarcerated, but he was different. He knew he had to excel in sports because it was the only way out of the toxic environment. School education meant nothing.
The only two options were sports or streets. So signing the contract helped him get out of that place, leave Texas, and start a new life. Moving out of Texas, the track and field athlete had left his family and street life behind. “So the best thing I did was sign that contract and I became a man. Once I left the state of Texas, I had nobody to depend on, nobody to call to just like me on my journey,” he said. But just when he had thought he had left the streets behind, Miami happened. The altercation, the arrest, and then the jail.
Next thing he knows, he’s in jail, someplace he has always been running from. He talked about how he never thought this would happen, yet it did. He further said, “So as I’m looking I’m like damn I only think that happened to me, and still to this day they never say I was arrested or say why they detaining me and stuff the stuff just happened like I’m like damn I try to get away from this life and life just happened to be in front of me.” Kerley said this as he reflected on the arrest while being in the Pivate podcast. But accepting the bigger picture, the man believes that now he has a story to tell.
Paris 2024 Olympics – Athletics – Men’s 100m Final – Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France – August 04, 2024. Fred Kerley of United States celebrates after winning bronze. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel
But the Miami brawl isn’t the only thing that has been a cause of bother for Kerley. As of now, the Olympic medalist has no deal, no contract, and the man has been to court, not once but twice this year, for two different occasions!
Fred Kerley lands in trouble again
Although the Miami incident had taken quite a toll on the track sensation, it was not the end (and probably, not the beginning) of his legal problems. Once arrested, his records were scanned to check for any previous issues that the Olympian had run foul of. “A probable cause for arrest message was entered” into the Florida Crime Information Center and National Crime Information Center system for his name. 4th January 2025- another court visit for the 29-year-old.
This time for a strangulation and strong-arm robbery that allegedly occurred in May 2024. A case of domestic violence against his wife, with whom he has three children. As per the reports, when she confronted him over an Instagram message from an unknown person, it was the tipping point. The alleged victim described his response as aggressive and said that she punched him because she was scared.
According to NBCMiami.com, “The defendant then grabbed the victim, pushed her to the ground, encircled his arm around her neck, and impeded her breathing,” an arrest report states. “The victim stated that she was not able to call for help or even grasp for air.” The reports claim that he tried to take her phone from her pants. Choked her when she screamed for help. Took the victim’s phone and fled the scene.
The Olympic bronze medalist is not supposed to be within 500 feet of the alleged victim. His bond was set at $7,500 for the strong-arm robbery and $5,000 for domestic violence. Both of these have been paid by and for now, he is a free man.
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