INDIALANTIC BEACH, Fla. – Two Melbourne police officers attempting to handcuff an 18-year-old at the beach over the weekend were accosted by a crowd who kicked sand at them as they struggled to handcuff the slippery teen, according to the arrest report.
Melbourne police said they were conducting foot patrol at Paradise Beach at 2:51 p.m. Saturday when they encountered a woman smoking a marijuana cigar and holding a bottle of Hennessey in her other hand.
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Officers said when the woman saw the uniformed officers she tossed the blunt to the ground but one of the officers picked it up saw a leafy green substance inside. Police told the woman, later identified as Alyahia Burdick, 18, she was under arrest and told her to put her hands behind her back.
As officers attempted to place the 18-year-old in handcuffs she tensed her arms and began to pull away, causing one of the officers to take her to the ground, according to the report. Officers said Burdick was covered in “sand and body oil” making it difficult to handcuff her.
While this was happening a crowd had started to form around the officers and the suspect. When officers attempted to lead Burdick up the stairs from the beach she slipped from the cuffs, according to the report.
As officers attempted to, again, cuff Burdick the crowd began surrounding the officers and kicking sand at them, police said. Officers said they were able to get Burdick to the patrol car and during all this, someone from the crowd had taken her bottle of Hennessey and the marijuana cigar.
Burdick, of Cocoa, is charged with marijuana possession, drinking under 21, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence-aggravated assault and resisting an officer without violence.
The incident comes on the same weekend Miami Beach city leaders enacted a curfew during spring break due to large crowds causing fights, property destruction, and, in one instance, helping an arrestee flee from the back of a patrol car.
Florida is among the few places open during the spring break holiday amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.