Mikael Prada, an 18-year-old Miami Beach driver whose brightly lit Ferrari and high-rev clips have turned him into a local social media fixture, was pulled over on the MacArthur Causeway and arrested after a traffic stop his family calls harassment. Body-camera footage and the family's account show officers detaining Prada and having his car towed, and the family says the Ferrari was damaged while being shifted into a bike lane. The family has hired an attorney and says it is weighing legal action, while the teen maintains he had already agreed to tone down his online stunts.
Traffic stop captured on body camera
Body-camera video that the local station obtained shows officers walking up to the Ferrari and ordering Prada to "turn it off" before asking him to step out of the vehicle after he said he did not have his license, according to WSVN. The outlet reports that Prada was booked on a resisting-arrest charge and that Miami Beach Police arranged for the car to be towed. His girlfriend recorded part of the encounter, and his parents told the station they felt officers singled him out. Prada was later released on bond, and the family says the Ferrari was damaged after it hit construction equipment while being moved into a bike lane.
Public plea and past tickets
The stop came after weeks of viral clips that show Prada revving his engine and performing stunts, and followed a public plea from Miami police urging him to cut it out, according to 7News. Miami Police Chief Manny Morales told the station that Prada's behavior amounted to "dangerous nuisance driving" and warned that "intentionally revving the engine to annoy and bother folks" was not acceptable. The earlier coverage notes that Prada had been ticketed multiple times in recent months and had told the station he planned to change his behavior.
Legal implications
Under Florida law, resisting an officer without violence is a first-degree misdemeanor, according to the Florida Senate's codification of Statute 843.02 on obstruction of justice. The statute says that resisting or obstructing an officer who is lawfully carrying out a duty, without the use of violence, is a crime that can bring jail time and fines, with the outcome depending on the facts of the case and the defendant's prior record, among other factors. If the family moves ahead with civil claims over the alleged damage to the Ferrari, those would be handled in civil court and would hinge on whether the seizure and towing were lawful and whether negligent handling caused the damage. Any such claims could seek compensation for property damage or other relief.
Neighborhood context and what's next
The incident lands in the middle of growing frustration across Miami over loud-car culture and street stunts, with some neighborhoods pushing petitions for tougher enforcement, as reported by CBS News Miami. Local officials have previously said officers can only cite noise violations they personally witness, which can make it harder to respond to behavior that mostly lives on social media. For now, the resisting-arrest charge is the main legal issue on the table, and any additional civil or criminal developments will depend on what prosecutors decide and how the family's lawyer proceeds in challenging the stop and the towing.
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