One man was arrested and another was temporarily detained but later released after they were accused of impersonating police officers on the Dolphin Expressway in Northwest Miami-Dade.
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe Martinez said he was on his way to a meeting when a black Toyota 4Runner tried to pull him over, Wednesday.
“It looked weird because of the type of vehicle that it was,” he said. “As a former police officer, and working undercover, you kind of get a sense of what’s going on.”
Martinez, a retired police lieutenant, said he was traveling northbound on the Florida Turnpike and was about to get off on the Dolphin Expressway when the SUV behind him turned on red lights.
He said the SUV followed him, changed lanes when he did and did not turn on any sort of sirens.
“I moved to the left lane, he followed me. I went to the center lane and to the right lane, and followed me too. It was an obvious attempt to try and get somebody to stop for him,” Martinez said.
He said after changing lanes, the lights on the SUV turned off, and then he said his police instincts kicked in.
“This time I got behind him and saw he had a temporary tag, so when you add up a red light, a police light and a temporary tag in that type of vehicle, it just didn’t look good,” Martinez said.
Martinez said he flagged down a passing police officer and told the officer that the SUV tried to pull him over.
“They didn’t get the siren, and that was something that added to the suspicion,” Martinez said. “The changing lanes, the following behind in the manner that they did it, it just wasn’t right. I’m glad it was me because of the experience that I’ve had, and it wasn’t an ordinary citizen that maybe would have fallen to their trap and maybe would have pulled over.”
The man that was temporarily detained was released Wednesday and will not face any charges.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.