OPA-LOCKA, FLA. (WSVN) - An Opa-Locka Police officer has been relieved of duty following an investigation into alleged misconduct that took place at a home.
Cellphone video taken by Jeffrey Byron showed the officer wearing a mask and holding his handgun entering his apartment without permission on Nov. 7.
“Get out the house,” Byron told the officer on cellphone video. “No, nobody told you to come in here.”
At one point, the masked officer knocked the phone out of Byron’s hand.
“I’m telling him there’s nobody in here,” Byron said on Tuesday. “Nobody told you to come in here. I know my rights. I know I have to allow y’all to come in before y’all enter my home.”
According to the Opa-Locka Police Department, the officers were investigating a Crime Stoppers tip of a man with a gun at the apartment complex along Northwest 22nd Avenue when the video was recorded.
“Please understand this incident is being very actively investigated,” Opa-Locka City Manager John E. Pate said.
City leaders held a news conference Wednesday to discuss their plan of action against the police officer.
“We responded immediately by ordering a report and an investigation,” Opa-Locka Mayor Matthew Pigatt said.
“The officer has been relieved of duty, and because it’s an internal affairs investigation — active investigation — there are witnesses that need to be interviewed and other matters related to that that I cannot express at this time,” Opa-Locka Police Chief James Dobson said.
The police officer at the center of the investigation has been on the force for 15 years.
“He was just a loose cannon, man,” Byron said. “I’m just really happy he’s not on the streets, patrolling the streets, because how he handled this situation was real crazy, and he was just a loose cannon. I’m just glad they handled that situation accordingly.”
Byron hopes the officer does not end up with a slap on the wrist from the investigation.
“I would be most satisfied if he no longer worked for Opa-Locka,” he said.
Police will not be releasing the officer’s name because he works undercover, but they said they were unaware of any previous complaints about him.
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