Police report: Arrested Opa-locka cop beat wife, kids for years. He’s the mayor’s brother
An Opa-locka police sergeant arrested Tuesday night on three domestic abuse charges physically battered and threatened to kill family members for almost a decade, police said on Wednesday.
The wife of Johane Hendrik Taylor told police that several times dating back to 2014 her husband hit her with closed fists, once even breaking a rib and trying to drag her outside while she was unconscious. Another time, the woman’s mother told police, she saw Taylor hit one of her grandchildren over the head with a vacuum cleaner.
“The mother has alleged that the defendant has abused the children since the oldest child was three years of age and she is currently 13 years of age,” the arresting officer from the city or Miramar wrote in his report.
Taylor, 36, is the youngest son of former Opa-locka Mayor Myra Taylor and the brother of the city’s current Mayor John Taylor.
On Tuesday evening, Miramar Police were waiting for Johane Taylor outside his home when he returned and took him into custody. He was charged with three felonies — aggravated child abuse, felony battery and aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony. He was taken to Broward County’s Main Jail, where he remained late Wednesday morning.
Late Wednesday afternoon — after failed attempts to reach his brother, mother, the city manager, city attorney and police chief at their offices or on cellphones — the head of a public relations firm hired by the city said Taylor had been suspended without pay until an investigation into his actions is complete.
The only indication that the city was aware of the sergeant’s arrest was an internal memo sent to city leaders and obtained by the Miami Herald. It did not name Taylor, but said an officer had been arrested and charged with domestic aggravated battery, domestic aggravated assault and child abuse. And that the city should prepare for a “significant amount of media coverage of the arrest tomorrow.”
A law enforcement source familiar with Taylor’s arrest said Miramar police had obtained a search warrant and were going through his home Wednesday morning. It wasn’t immediately clear if Taylor had hired an attorney.
Taylor has been in the news before. A Miami Herald story from 2014 explained how he was hired as an officer in Opa-locka despite twice failing his police exam and having a criminal past involving domestic battery. He resigned in 2013 when it was discovered that the police department failed to do a thorough background check. He was rehired in Opa-locka as a police officer about two years later. Chief Israel recently promoted him to sergeant.
The charges filed Tuesday against Taylor stem only from incidents that took place in Miramar since May of 2022. In some cases, the arrest warrant doesn’t list specific dates. Miramar Police records obtained by the Miami Herald show that police first became concerned about Taylor’s alleged actions at the end of January, when they were called to the family’s home over a domestic violence incident and spoke with Taylor’s wife and daughter. Police said they convinced his wife that night to take her kids to her mother’s home in Opa-locka, which she did.
Taylor’s wife also told police that day that her husband placed a firearm against her head saying he “should kill her right now.” After putting the gun away, she told police Taylor threw her on the couch and began beating her.
Taylor’s wife told Miramar Police that he became particularly violent one day last May when she told him she wanted out of the marriage. She said he hit her in the head and neck with closed fists and that she passed out as he tried to drag her outside. When paramedics arrived, she said she told them she fell while mopping. She also said she believed her husband broke one of her ribs, but she chose to let it heal naturally instead of seeing a doctor.
She also told police, according to Taylor’s arrest report, that her husband struck the children repeatedly over the years, most often with a belt that left welts on their legs and buttocks, parts of their body that teachers wouldn’t see. She claimed her husband coached the kids, ages 7, 10 and 13, on how to deal with teachers.
Miami Herald Staff Writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report.
