HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - A former Hialeah Police officer has filed a lawsuit against his former police chief and department, alleging they are the reason he can’t get a job.
Speaking with 7News on Thursday, Armando Perez said he was at the top of the career ladder when he found himself behind a jail cell.
“I was at the height of my career, doing well, you know, providing for my family, and all of as sudden, from one day to the next, I’m a defendant,” he said.
Perez was busted by his own police department years ago for a bogus ticket-writing scam, but he was later acquitted and cleared of charges.
But even with the acquittal, Perez said, his life has never been the same since.
His attorney, Michael Pizzi, said they know exactly who was behind the life-changing scandal.
“Chief Velazquez set him up,” said Pizzi.
Perez and Pizzi filed a lawsuit against Perez’s then boss: disgraced, scandal-plagued ex-police chief Sergio Velazquez.
According to the documents, Perez is suing “for slander, false arrest, false imprisonment, [and] wrongful termination.”
But Velazquez is not the only one being hit with a lawsuit. Perez and Pizzi are suing the Hialeah Police Department as well.
“Hialeah was notorious for starting investigations on officers trying to leave,” said Perez.
Three years ago, Perez sat down with 7News after he had been cleared of all charges.
When asked during that interview if the Hialeah Police Department had been wrong in arresting him, Perez answered: “Yes, sir. They definitely were.”
Perez said he was arrested and fired out of spite because Velazquez and others were angry that he was planning to leave the Hialeah Police Department to take another job.
Now, Pizzi wants them to pay for it.
“We will not rest until Sergio Velazquez pays $1 million to Armando Perez and is finally exposed and held fully accountable,” said Pizzi.
The lawsuit comes a week after the bombshell arrest of the former chief for organized fraud, money laundering and other offenses with the state.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office revealed Velazquez stole and/or spent millions in cash belonging to his department.
“More than $300,000 in Rolex watches, over $11,000 from Cartier, $6,700 from Louis Vuitton and over $5,000 from Versace,” said Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent in Charge John Vecchio.
Pizzi and Perez said the revelations about first-degree felonies against Velazquez did not surprise them.
“Sergio Velazquez was always corrupt,” said Pizzi.
“That was something that wasn’t very surprising,” said Perez.
Pizzi added that if Velazquez and the Hialeah Police Department don’t pay up, they should expect to see them in court.
A spokesperson for Hialeah Police did not immediately respond to 7News’ request for comment.
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