Orlando police officer alleged to have taken individual’s phone during altercation in Osceola County

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – An Orlando police officer is accused of snatching someone’s phone and striking it out of his hand during a confrontation last month at an apartment complex near Kissimmee.

Marlon Binet, 34, was arrested via warrant on Wednesday, records show. He faces charges of battery, unarmed robbery by sudden snatching and grand theft between $750 and $5,000.

The incident occurred around noon March 16 at the Ezelle apartment complex along Sinclair Road, according to the affidavit for Binet’s arrest warrant.

The victim told Osceola deputies that he was using a workout station after tethering his two dogs to a tree when Binet — who was reportedly there with his wife and children — approached him. Binet was allegedly yelling at him, claiming his dogs were violent and telling him that he needed to have a license to have them with him, the affidavit states.

Stating now that he felt threatened, the victim began to record the incident on his cellphone, what he said made Binet more agitated, according to the affidavit. Binet then took the phone, ignored multiple requests to give it back and began making comments as if he was “enticing him to try and fight him,” the affidavit states.

After Binet did give the phone back, the victim continued to record the incident, at which time Binet allegedly hit his hand and knocked the phone out of it, deputies said.

The victim grabbed the phone to call 911 while Binet began running away, the affidavit states.

At Binet’s first appearance in court Thursday, a judge set his bond at $7,000 and found probable cause to order that he have no further contact with the victim nor return to the scene — where he lives — save for one time with law enforcement to retrieve his belongings, records show. He has since bonded out.

In a statement provided to News 6, the Orlando Police Department said that Binet has been employed by the agency since Feb. 19, 2018, and is currently relieved of duty pending the outcome in an ongoing investigation.