His shirt was already stained with blood before the arrest in Miami of Matteo Falcinelli, the 25-year-old Spoleto, violently arrested by the police on the night of February 24 to 25, then detained for 13 minutes, tied hand and foot. . Several points remain unclear regarding the story of the Italian student who was allegedly beaten and tortured during his arrest and detention in the police station's transit cell, as shown in some body camera videos of the police officers themselves . One of the things that remains to be unraveled is what happened inside the strip club. And what really happened after the arrest, with contradictory versions between that of the police and that of the family of the 25-year-old. Elements also remained unresolved due to body cameras having audio muted at certain times.
What happened in the club
As shown in videos broadcast by the national newspaper, three bloodstains were visible on Falcinelli's jersey before his arrest outside the club. As Il Giorno reconstructs, according to the family, the 25-year-old entered the club at 10:15 p.m. Inside, he orders a drink and refuses the approach of a few girls. When he gets to the bathroom, he finds that his cell phones are missing. Falcinelli starts looking for them, until a girl tells him that they were found at the entrance to the bar. Falcinelli goes to collect them then goes to the bar to get the drinks he ordered. He finds them ready on the counter and drinks them with the young girl. From this moment on, memories become blurred and we cannot exclude that this is when the boy was injured.
The sound is muted
The same evening, at 3:40 p.m., Falcinelli was handcuffed and loaded into a car by the police with the police officer who had taken charge of him and who called his colleagues. To the five officers surrounding him, the officer said, “He kept touching everyone.” Then another agent makes the gesture of turning a lever, writes Il Giorno. At that point the sound disappears, only the police officers are talking to each other. According to the 25-year-old's family, the police deliberately censored their speeches by avoiding recording them.
The police report
According to what is written in the police report, Falcinelli asked for the return of the $500 he had spent at the bar. The videos, however, indicate that the boy persistently asked for his cellphones, which he reiterates went missing while he was inside the club. A police officer responds that no one has their smartphone inside. And that's when the tension mounts, with Falcinelli raising his voice and demanding the phones back and the officer warning him: “They don't have your phones, if you don't want to have out of trouble, go home. In a few seconds, the 25-year-old young man found himself on the ground, his face against the asphalt and the police officer's knee resting on his neck.
Shortly after, the scene still seems blurry. Cell phones appear, handed to the police officer by a man in a black suit, probably a club security guard. The agent places them on the ground, next to Falcinelli's body. When the boy is put in the car in handcuffs, the phones are placed in the car. But there is no trace of this in the minutes. The family therefore insists that the boy's requests were completely ignored by the police.
Investigation
To clarify what happened that night, there could be two parallel investigations, one American and one Italian. Falcinelli's family relied on lawyer Francesco Maresca, who had already assisted Meredith Kercher's family in the past. Maresca assures that he will assess in the coming days to what extent the Italian authorities will be able to intervene in Falcinelli's case.
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