SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Miami-Dade Police arrested a man suspected of driving under the influence after, officials said, he escaped from a cruiser and took off through a Kendall neighborhood, last month.
Officers first picked up 43-year-old Roberto Cuadra on suspicion he was drunk behind the wheel of a 2001 Ford F-150 truck off of Southwest 167th Avenue, in Southwest Miami-Dade, in the early hours of Feb. 23.
According to his arrest report, Cuadra refused a breathalyzer and failed a field sobriety test.
Officers then brought the suspect to the nearest fire station to draw up a warrant for a blood alcohol level test. They left the window in the cruiser down while they filed that paperwork.
Shortly after, Cuadra told them he was congested and not feeling so hot. “You and me both, bud,” one officer is heard saying on dashcam video.
When there were no officers around, Cuadra seized the moment. After working his way out of handcuffs, he pulled off his vanishing act, hopping out the open back window and taking off.
The report states he ran down Southwest 163rd Avenue and hopped over a six-foot fence into a nearby neighborhood in Kendall.
When officers figured out Cuadra broke free, they set up a dragnet. Police dogs eventually tracked down the suspect’s scent, and officers were able to apprehend him.
The time stamp of the video at the time of Cuadra’s arrest read 7:30 a.m. The footage shows him back in handcuffs, only this time, with an felony charge for escape in addition to a long list of other charges, including DUI and driving with a suspended license.
Officials said Cuadra’s license was suspended at the time of his arrest because he has three other DUI arrests on his rap sheet. After being caught a second time, he was booked into Miami-Dade County Jail.
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