Case dropped after man arrested while recording video of police officer

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County man was arrested after he said he used his cellphone to record video of Orlando police officers.

Alberto Troche believes his rights were violated and he's suing the Orlando Police Department. According to Troche, he stood back as he recorded cellphone video of police officers arresting a man in downtown Orlando.

"I was just there recording and I guess he just saw me recording and he said 'I'll take that,'" Troche said.

Troche said he was never told why the officer took his cell phone. Afterward he was arrested and charged with resisting arrest without violence.

But court documents from the State Attorney's Office show that his case was dropped because of insufficIent evidence. Prosecutors believed police failed to prove Troche was preventing them from doing their job.

"I'll take your cellphone for evidence as well," the officer said in the video.

"That statement right there is threatening and harassing," attorney Marc Jones said.

Jones said the officer violated his client's rights and that's why they've filed a lawsuit.

"It's very obvious they handled the situation entirely wrong," Jones said.

Troche hopes his case will change the way police officers react to someone recording video of them.

"The point is to change the rules so that no one else goes through what I had to go through," Troche said.

Orlando police officials said they couldn't comment on a pending lawsuit.

WFTV