Newly released body-worn camera footage shows a Miami Beach officer tearing across South Beach traffic and slamming a suspected scooter thief to the pavement, two years after he was wounded in a high-profile friendly-fire shooting. The tightly cut clip strings together drone tracking, a sprint through Flamingo Park and a gritty street takedown into a short, unvarnished sequence that local outlets quickly picked up. Front and center is Officer Fabio Bolanos, who still has metal fragments from that earlier shooting in his leg yet is the one who closes in to make the arrest.
Miami Beach Police released the bodycam video after the March 10 arrest, and the footage was obtained and reported by WSVN. The station’s segment shows officers tracking the suspect with a drone from the MacArthur Causeway, following him onto Fifth Street and catching up after he dumps the scooter near Seventh Street and Michigan Avenue. The video identifies the suspect as Miguel Cotto and captures officers sharply lecturing him as they lock down the scene.
Wounded officer's long road back
Bolanos’ appearance in the new arrest video points back to the March 2024 incident on the Venetian Causeway that put him on the sidelines. According to Law&Crime, another officer’s gun discharged during a struggle with a man whose metallic lighter was mistaken for a firearm, and Bolanos later reported that shrapnel remained lodged in his left calf. The encounter set off internal reviews and drew community scrutiny over how officers handled the confrontation and what equipment was used, fallout that Miami New Times chronicled at the time.
Aftermath and open questions
The latest bodycam release does not settle those lingering questions about tactics or training. WSVN reports that Cotto had a grand-theft charge dropped yet remains in custody on several other felony counts, with some of the details left to the court file. Bolanos has signaled he may pursue civil action tied to his 2024 injury, and the department’s administrative review of that shooting is proceeding on a separate track from the criminal case stemming from the scooter arrest.
