Home Surveillance Video Shows Officer Lying In Report About Florida Man

A home surveillance camera kept a Florida man from facing years of prison, according to WFTS.

A police report claimed 37-year-old Chris Cordero attacked a police officer, but the surveillance video showed that he didn't, reporters said. On the morning of February 8 in Lake Wales, Florida, Cordero was reportedly driving to a Publix to pick up medicine for his son.

That's when Officer Colt Black initiated a traffic stop on the Lake Wales man.

“I stopped at a stop sign on Third Street and I noticed the officer behind me, way before I even stopped,” Cordero said. “I get out of the vehicle to ask him what’s going on because he’s been following me for a while."

Reporters said Cordero stood by his car for more than 20 seconds. Officer Black's report said, “Cordero immediately exited the driver door and began to charge towards my patrol vehicle.” It also indicated Cordero approached the officer with closed fists, WFTS added.

Cordero claims this didn't happen, adding that he complied with all of Officer Black's commands.

“The officer requested to me that I go to the back of my car and put my hands on the trunk. Because he wants to search me to see if I have a weapon,” Cordero said, saying he approached Officer Black. “He sucker-punched me from the back, right here, cracked a piece of my tooth out. I landed on the ground."

Moments later, Officer Travis Worley arrived and allegedly joined in on the fight, according to Cordero. The Lake Wales man also claimed Worley used a racial slur in the internal affairs complaint. In the report, Officer Black said he, “delivered an elbow strike to the left side of Cordero’s head” … because he thought he was ”reaching for a weapon.”

Cordero was charged with resisting arrest, assault on a law enforcement officer and making a death threat to a law enforcement officer. After he bonded out of jail the next day, reporters said he went door to door in the neighborhood until he found the footage.

"After Cordero shared the footage with police, Officer Black wrote in another report, 'I believe my perception was altered due to the high stress of the incident,'" according to WFTS. "Lake Wales attorney Sara Jones forwarded the video to the Polk County State’s Attorney’s Office, which immediately dropped the charges."

Reporters requested an interview with the police chief, but he declined due to an ongoing internal investigation.

Police confirmed to WFTS that Colt Black resigned effective February 10, and Worley was placed ion administrative station duty.

Photo: Getty Images