On April 24th, 2024, at around 11 p.m., a routine patrol in West Palm Beach quickly became tense when officers noticed a group loitering near a closed business. Officers approached, aiming initially just to ensure everything was safe. Got any weapons on you, bro? No. You You got any weapons on you, bro? Not here. Was that your phone? You just want to block them off? That's my god. That's my That wasn't that was your other sit down. Stop right. No, we we we was him just come around the corner. I ain't just come around. No, I just we just I used to do y'all been sitting. I had enough time to go to the red light to make a dog on U-turn. Just have a seat, bro. Yeah, we just come around the corn. Have a seat, bro. The officers began questioning the individuals, but tensions rose when they attempted to pat down one of the men, later identified as Ruben Leonard Hi III. Reuben appeared agitated, repeatedly questioning the officer's actions and motivations. His visible anxiety suggested he felt threatened by the sudden police presence. Hey, bro. Yo. Hey. Bro. Bro, have a seat. But don't touch me, sir. Bro, ain't nobody touching you. What you going to go by? What you going to go by? What you going to go by? What would you do? You just hit me, bro. Hit me in my face, man. Face by a police officer, bro. I just got hit in the face by a police officer, bro. Come on. Come on, man. You just push me for, bro. What's up, bro? That's on camera, was it? I did not go there. Despite the officer's instructions to sit down, Reuben became increasingly distressed. A sudden movement by Reuben to pull up his pants alarmed one officer who perceived it as a potential threat. Reacting instantly, the officer struck Reuben in the face. Reuben immediately protested, claiming unjustified assault. What's up with you? Punch me in the face first, bro. Bro, face the car hard, bro. You was home, huh? You was home. Yeah, I was I appreciate him. Yeah. Yeah, cuz I was on I was on standby. Yeah, he threw that. You threw that. No, it wasn't even that. But put up his pants like like Y like you punching me, bro. You punched me dead in my face, bro. Hey. Hey, bro. Hey, bro. Hey, Rod. Let me get some gloves. I got see what that is, bro. Spread your feet, man. He threw that over there, bro. I didn't throw. I just watching, bro. It's on. Yeah. Hey, man. I should be on camera. He'll punch me in my face, too. He assaulting me fool. 338. I don't anyone take this off here. I'll cut it. No, no, no. You don't got to cut. You don't got to cut it. Hey, y'all boys not paying attention. What's What's [Music] this? I know I could cut this, man. Take it off him. Cut it. We'll do whatever you got to do. You under arrest. Turn around, man. Hold up, man. Put your knife on. You got a light. You moving, bro. I'm not going to ask you, bro. How's moving? [ __ ] What is Stop moving, bro? What is you doing? Why is you doing that, bro? I'm not even doing nothing. Make sure you uh Hey, bro. Bro, you're on the chest. That's problem. They're code for they just got back. Yeah, you got it. I'm I'm I'm going to hit him on the um the other one. Yeah. Yeah. Do that for that. Hey, you got I I ain't checked that yet. I'm just getting rid of every everything that's on his person. So, we going to run through it one by one. Okay. Damn. I got to see if I can call that cuz he all I ain't I'm not worried about that. I got it. I ain't going to lie. I seen I seen that over there, but I thought it was shorty. I was on a guard. So, this is all money. We going to keep his money on in there. Take this Take this statue off. Put put this money in there too. Yeah, we'll count all the money. Uh, did you you want folded the money? It's going to be in we're going to zip the money up. We're going to once once we once we put them in the car, we'll count the money. So, y'all need to figure out how y'all going to take the side. Hey, go ahead. Go ahead. Go. Why was you doing all that came out? I'm just one person. Yeah. Yeah. When they were right here, they was I don't know if it's candy. I don't know what it is, but I I picked up on the floor. I told them they want to Wait, it came out of his pocket or it came off the ground? Yeah, it was right here. I guess he said it's candy. So, it might have came off. Bro, what is you doing, bro? I got to search you before I put you in the car, bro. I know that. You doing all that extra for nothing, bro? Just bro. Stop touching me, bro. I don't want you touching me, bro. You already punched me in my face for nothing ass. I go through bigger [ __ ] than you. All right, put them in the car. Put them in the car. You guys sure like pull my pants up. Put them in the car. Put them in the car. Hey, bro. Let me get in the car. Get in the [Music] car. All right, we need to All right. I got my here, bro. Pull it up. Pull it. Hey yo, somebody get his name. My FIC cards are over there. All right. Make sure your camera's on. Make sure yours is on. If you got money, bro, I'm sitting right there, man. That [ __ ] ass going to punch me, bro. Where you at? Punch me dead, bro. I ain't do. If you run the camera back, bro, this man assaulted me, bro. I turned around cuz I didn't know what the he was doing. You feel me? This man came out the boot and just stole. I ain't do nothing. All right. Bro, run the camera back, bro. This man assaulting me, bro. Yes, sir. This man need to go. He don't need to be working for y'all, bro. Officers noticed Reuben had discarded an object. Upon inspection, the item was identified as a metal cylinder typically used to conceal narcotics. Inside, they discovered crack cocaine. Reuben insisted he hadn't thrown anything, alleging he was being unfairly targeted. The confrontation highlighted confusion and mistrust between the officers and Reuben, intensifying the encounter. Yo, bro, what's your first name? Yo, we need to get your name, bro. Just to make sure you're good. bro. Come on. Come on, bro. Hey, bro. Stop touching me, man. Bro, what's your name, bro? Bro, you're going to give us your name or you're going to get booked under John Doe and you're going to stay at county forever. Okay. All right. Cool. The officers restrained Reuben despite his protests about excessive force and unjustified aggression. Reubin expressed frustration, accusing officers of deliberately escalating the situation. Officers attempted to calm him, though tension remained palpable. Hey, bro. I'm I'm going to be honest with you. You're going to get another charge if you don't tell me your name. So, this is the last time I'm going to ask you. What is your name? I'll take a charge. Huh? I'll take a charge. All right. Take a lot of people. Sit down right there. Sit down, brother. Reuben refused multiple requests to identify himself, even when informed it would lead to additional charges. He chose defiance over compliance, possibly driven by mistrust or fear of further legal consequences. Everything without his camera turned on. You know, bro, there's cameras in here. I know cameras. I know you a rookie. You just called me old, but now I'm a rookie. You damn right. You probably been running this for three, four years. You're a rookie. Stand up. Go in that cell. Make sure there's nothing in there, Jacket. Shut up. Bro, go in. Go in the cell, bro. Why are you being difficult? Well, if you didn't have your badge on, bro, I swear to God. Come on, man. Why not have to do nothing, man? Come on. Let's go. Come on now. We're not doing nothing. Come on. Come on. Y'all sit down. Nobody going to punch you, man. Come on. Let me take my cuffs off. I'm not going to take your cuffs off. I just Are you acting? You got to go sit in with the cuffs on. All right. At the police department, Reuben continued withholding his identity. Authorities eventually identified him through facial recognition technology. Reuben expressed resentment towards a rookie officer, revealing his deep-seated anger and distrust towards law enforcement personnel. This interaction illuminated underlying stress on both sides. Hey man, I'm good. What's going on? I am the uh ship commander for the police. Do you want to tell me what happened? Just run the camera back. Innocent. I'm sorry. Innocent. run the camera bell. Oh, I'm going to absolutely. Yes, sir. And I that's that's all I'm You don't want to talk about anything else? You want to tell me what happened? Cuz it's my job to review what police I understand that. I understand everything you do. Okay. I ain't mad at nobody, but I just It's pointless. Okay. Um, you understand giving your name's not going to hurt anything. It's just another charge if you don't though. Okay. I mean, let's just clean up what we got right here. I mean, everything cleaned up. I'm good. I'm I'm on the right path. I know everything you're doing. Yeah. I know. It doesn't hurt to give your name now. It's It's one less charge, man. I mean, they're going to figure it out anyway, right? Exactly. They going to figure it out. Why would you want to pick up another charge then? Charge for what? When when you stop by police, if you don't give your name, that's called obstruction. You from New York, Boston. So, what I'm going to do, tell me the first name. Tell the first name. Assulted. Assaulted. Okay. See, that's what I'm talking about. What happened? All right. So enjoying my day with the school, you know, try hard police officers, you feel me? They wanted me. They probably have nothing else to do, you feel me? So we out there, me and my uncle, we just out there enjoying our time like we always doing, you feel me? It's 7-Eleven or someplace else. Well, wherever I'm at, 7Eleven, River, downtown, wherever I'm at. Okay. You never been trespassed from there, right? There's no problem. Never ever been trespassed. Okay, got you. I ain't never start with people around there. Like every every store around there, everybody around there know me. You feel me? I don't start no problems with no people. I got you. So night time came. I can't I can't evening remember cuz you feel just happened so fast. You feel me? Cops just pull up out the blue. That's the first thing I'm like I'm shook. I'm in my mind. I'm like, man, this going to go left. This going to go left. This going to go left. So I'm freeze. I'm froze. I'm just thinking to myself, I'm talking to myself in my head like, "What the what the what the what the what?" And then I see somebody walking behind me. Then, you know, my pants, if you look on the video, my pants is already falling down. Okay. I'm nervous. I know pull my pants on. By the time I cuz you see somebody walking behind you too, of course. Like, what the is he doing? Yeah. You feel? So by the time I even tried to pull my pants up, he made it seem like, "Oh, you pull your pants." So I had to I had to punch you. What the I'm trying to I'm trying to fix myself. Where'd you get hit? I got hit right here. Right here. Where in the face? Yeah. Okay, let me see. But then he talking about, "Oh, I had assaulted him. I started at first." How the hell did I assault you? I ain't start nothing with you. I ain't do nothing. I ain't put my hand. Okay, so you were hit once. A lieutenant attempted a calm, measured conversation with Reuben, giving him a chance to share his perspective. Reuben described feeling targeted and unfairly attacked by police, emphasizing his fear and confusion during the initial encounter. He claimed the officer who punched him had prior encounters, suggesting personal animosity or bias. Everything aggressive, you feel me? So these mothers just came out the blue and the one that punched me, I'm talking about punch me, bro. That that was some right there. I ain't do nothing. And I ain't starting nothing with nobody like that is all on camera. Even the 70s Yeah, that's what I was going to ask you. Which camera would it be on? Where exactly did it happen? I They just watched the video in the car. No, but I haven't seen it yet, though. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, I seen I seen the video in the car, you could see everything. I ain't do nothing. Was it closer to the plaza or the 7-Eleven itself? Okay. You Okay. From Okay. On the 7-Eleven in the building, it's a camera right there at the top of the corner on the right side on the northwest side. Like Yeah. Like Okay. Gotcha. Okay. Towards 45th Street then? No. No. Like Okay. It's like right there at the edge of the building. Like it's pointing towards the storeway of where cuz I position myself like that. Okay. You feel me? I'm looking at the camera over there. Okay. So, it's definitely on there though. It's definitely on the 7-Eleven. That's what I need to know. I ain't assault nobody or none of this. Okay. I I ain't do nothing. What happened after you got hit? Reuben insisted surveillance footage would validate his claims of innocence and inappropriate police aggression. Despite encouragement from the lieutenant, he chose silence on personal details indicative of profound mistrust and a desire for self-p protection against further perceived injustice. When when they say okay, it was all teamwork. It was all the teamwork. If you if you Okay, none of them none of them none of them had their cameras rolling. None of them. All the all the police officers that pulled up that came they did not have their camera rolling at all. And mother all the one I'm talking about they was doing I'm talking about doing dirty work but it's like this they was plotting already like like what choking or something? No like to do what they wanted to do. Oh the game play. Yeah they was they was plotting like okay cuz I heard him outside whispering inside the car. Damn. Okay. So we got to cover you him punching him. So we going to make it seem make say that you let he assaulted you like he was moving. I'm sitting there by the window. I'm like, "What the?" All right. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. We just going to clear that up. You're good. You're good. I'm And then he like, "Yeah, he came in me. He came at me aggressive first. He He pulled his pants up and I just stole him." How the How would that make sense? No, it doesn't. I want to I want to watch the video. Okay. Are you over 18 years old or you under? 20. 20. Okay. 20 years old. Um I have to ask this because I got to do a report whenever our officers do something. Are you under the influence of alcohol narcotics? No. No. Okay. Um, so just so I can replay this thing, you and your uncle are hanging out 7-Eleven. You never had problem there. You never been trespassed there. Never ever been trespassed. And the cops come up. They come up. Okay. Okay. There was already a game plan already. Okay. Cuz we was Okay. Me and my uncle were seen police officer sitting over there across the street at the hospital. So me and my uncle my uncle already told me like it's a police car over there sitting over there across from the hospital. What the? So next thing you know, that's what this car just came out the blue. They didn't had no lights on or nothing, so they already knew what they was doing. Okay. Are you from West Palm? Born and raised here. Okay. So, I mean, you've seen plenty of Ruben faced charges including possession of controlled substances, resisting without violence, and obstruction. This case underscores the critical importance of communication, trust building, and mental health awareness within community policing, demonstrating how quickly misunderstandings can escalate into serious incidents.