Alligator Alcatraz guards face battery charges in case over detainee treatment

Churchill Ndonwie, Miami Herald on Sep 4, 2026

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MIAMI — Two Alligator Alcatraz guards have pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor battery charges in the first known criminal case alleging detainee mistreatment at the now-shuttered Everglades detention center.

Collier County prosecutors say guards Andre Seenaraine and Stephen Trejos went after detainee Rigoberto Rodriguez Arce on Jan. 25, weeks after he was detained by immigration officials. Charging documents don’t detail what happened, but Rodriguez’s lawyer said he “sustained serious injuries.”

“We intend to pursue all available legal remedies,” said attorney Adriana Rodriguez, “and hold every individual and entity fully accountable for the harm he suffered.”

The case adds to the many complaints by former detainees and their families about inhumane treatment, beatings and inadequate medical care — allegations the Trump and DeSantis administration dismissed as false before closing the site in June.

The Department of Homeland Security directed questions to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which oversaw operations at Alligator Alcatraz. A spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.

Fighting the charges

The first of the arrests took place at Alligator Alcatraz on June 24 one day before Gov. Ron DeSantis stopped by to announce the closure of the temporary detention center, which he said had “fulfilled” its role.

Trejos, 24, was arrested by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, according to court records. Seenaraine, 30, was arrested two days later in Ocala and booked into Marion County Jail.

The booking report for Seenaraine lists his employer as CRS.

Critical Response Strategies is one of the private contractors that was hired by the state to provide guards to oversee the detention center. The company did not immediately respond for comment.

It’s unclear why prosecutors waited five months to bring charges.

Seenaraine and Trejos were both released after posting $1,000 bond.

The guards’ arrests were first reported by WINK. The Fort Myers news station published an account from a former detainee who said Trejos confronted Rodriguez, slammed him to the ground and struck him after detainees who’d been waiting for hours to be transferred without food and water began banging their handcuffs against metal benches. The detainee said Seenaraine punched Rodriguez in the face after guards moved him to another part of the detention center.

Trejos’ attorneys confirmed that the scene was tense, writing in a motion to dismiss that Rodriguez was banging his handcuffs while the men in his cell chanted “libertad.” But they said Trejos and another guard were moving Rodriguez out of the area when the detainee spat on him.

Trejos kept moving, but “delivered a single compliance strike” to the side of Rodriguez’s head when he thought Rodriguez was about to spit on him again, the motion says. Trejos and another officer then took Rodriguez down.

“Once the alleged victim was brought to the ground, [Trejos] immediately disengaged and had no further physical contact with the alleged victim,” the motion states.

Trejos’ lawyers said their account is corroborated by surveillance footage. Attempts to reach them were unsuccessful.

Evan Pfeifer, Seenaraine’s attorney, called the charges “serious allegations” and said he understood why the case was drawing attention. He stressed that his client was innocent until proven guilty.

He said “much of what is now circulating comes from unverified accounts, including from people the State itself has never listed as witnesses.

“The complete record in this case, which the public has not seen, is far larger than the reporting suggests, and we have reviewed it,” he said. “We will answer these allegations where they belong, in the courtroom, and that is where this case will be decided.”