A deputy of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office arrested in April for battering a woman he met at E11even nightclub has been cleared from all criminal charges.
On Monday, state attorneys announced they will not prosecute 54-year-old Lt. Daniel Chala.
Chala was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center nearly two months ago on charges of battery and false imprisonment, records showed.
An arrest report stated that the victim said she met Chala at the nightclub at 29 Northeast 11th Street. When she said she was going to leave, Chala allegedly invited her back to his place.
Once inside Chala’s apartment, the victim told authorities that she took off her shoes, walked to Chala’s bedroom and sat on his bed. The two kissed, and then the suspect “asked the victim a question, which confused the victim due to it being previously answered.”
Details about that question were not provided in the arrest report.
After that, the victim said she got up and walked to Chala’s bedroom door, and then he placed one of his arms around her neck and kissed her. While at first she thought it was a sexual engagement and “decided to go along with it,” she said his grip became tighter and tighter.
Chala allegedly refused to let go despite multiple pleas from the victim.
According to the arrest report, the two struggled for a few minutes until the victim was able to escape and she ran “to several nearby apartment units seeking assistance.”
One resident allegedly told authorities that she was lying in bed when she heard someone knocking on her door yelling: “This guy is trying to kill me; he has my bags.”
When the witness looked through the peephole, she said she saw the victim bleeding from the mouth and let her into her unit. Then she called the front desk and asked for police to be contacted.
The witness said she also recorded a video of the victim going back to the suspect’s apartment to ask for her belongings back. Chala allegedly then opened the door and put her shoes and purse outside.
Authorities said the victim had visible red marks on her neck and chin. Her right pinky nail and right ring fingernail were also broken.
When police arrived, they took statements from the people involved. Chala told officers that when he got back to his apartment with the victim, she said “let’s lay down in bed together,” but he refused and told her she needed to leave.
According to Chala, the two had “a brief discussion” before the woman walked out of his apartment and began knocking on neighbors’ doors.
He denied coming into physical contact with her “other than kissing her on the hand,” the arrest report states.
While bonding out, Chala told NBC6 “I plan to definitely contest the misdemeanor battery, but the felony was dropped. It was a superfluous charge that was unnecessary. I did not squeeze that woman’s neck like the way she said,” Chala said.
“It’s definitely lies on her part but that’s something that will eventually be discussed when it comes to court but I was going to give a statement because I’m most certainly innocent of this and did not engage in any kind of battery or rough play with her at all, it was just a matter of her leaving my apartment when she didn’t want to leave.”
It’s unclear why state attorneys dropped the charges. NBC6 has reached out for comment.
Chala was relieved of duty with pay, pending the outcome of the investigation.
NBC6 also reached out to the sheriff’s office for comment.
