Thursday, May 19, 2011

City of Miami thinks outside the box to cover budget shortfalls...

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That's right! Things are tough all over and as everyone can see the City of Miami is whoring itself out to anyone and everyone to make a buck to cover up budget shortfalls. Look at the grotesque ad murals on the side of public buildings, the red light cameras that promised millions in revenue but have failed miserably and worse, Mayor Regalado legalizing the electronic gambling machines that plague our city in search of a few hundred thousand dollars in revenue to plug holes in the city budget.

So what's the city to do in order to try to eek out every last penny from the tax payers to continue to fund their ridiculous government employee pay and benefit packages? How about sending police officers out to jack money from innocent people?! Sit back and read this...

Marrero v City of Miami Complaint

You get that? In a nutshell the complaint alleges that two unnamed City of Miami police officers instruct homeland security to grab two people off a plane at the Miami International Airport, the cops then interrogate the two travelers in an interrogation room at the airport and take $9,100.00 in cash off of one guy and $8,900.00 off the other guy. The cops then transport the subjects to the City of Miami Police headquarters building where they are further interrogated and told that all their belongings and money are being confiscated, after approximately seven and a half hours the subjects are escorted out of the headquarters building and dumped out on the street, even worse throughout the entire ordeal the two City of Miami cops refused to identify themselves or even give the poor guys any kind of receipt for their property!

Sound far fetched? Maybe some ridiculous claims by some guys looking to score in a civil suit against the city? Could the lawyer be full of shit? Keep in mind, the alleged incident took place back September of 2010 and this lawsuit was filed only a few days ago. Why the wait? Was the police department aware of what was going on? How about Chief Exposito or maybe the Mayor himself? Was anyone aware of these allegations? This letter that was attached to the complaint should answer those questions...

Marrero Letter to Internal Affairs

HOLY SHIT! According to this letter written to Detective Ihosvany Cuervo from the victims attorneys, the city and the police department were aware of this incident since late September 2010 and it seems as if the Detective from internal affairs even met with the attorney and the victims in regards to the incident. What's most troubling about the whole ordeal is that to this day, nearly nine months since the incident occurred, the City of Miami Police Department WILL NOT REVEAL THE IDENTITIES OF THE POLICE OFFICERS INVOLVED! The letter also reveals that as of December 3, 2010 Mayor Regalado, Chief Miguel Exposito and city attorney Julie O. Bru were made aware of the situation and have done nothing about it for five months, not even the courtesy of returning a phone call to the victims attorneys which left him no choice but to file suit on behalf of his clients. What a fucking mess.


So what do we have? Let's capsulize; two City of Miami police detectives that are accused of...
  • Civil Theft
  • False Imprisonment
  • Conversion
  • Conspiracy
I would have gone one step further and included the City Attorney, the Mayor and the Police Chief as part of the conspiracy because of their inaction in dealing with the alleged charges.


If the allegations against the unnamed police officers are false, why hasn't the city revealed their identities? Why has the police department and the city attorney sat by for months on end rather than dealing with the situation? Consider for a moment if the allegations are true, the police department could have probably made the whole thing go away by simply repaying the victims and sending them on their way. Instead, they've literally ignored the victims and their attorneys and have now opened themselves up to a lawsuit that could potentially end up costing the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars if the victims prevail in court. Even worse, there could be grounds for a 1983 Civil Rights action which could cost the taxpayers even MORE money!


I'm at a loss. Can someone please let me know what in the fuck is going on in our city?

On another note, when our favorite MDPD cop, Detective Jorge Baluja, comes across this post, don't fret, just because I haven't written about you in a while, don't think I've forgotten about you. I got a nice surprise waiting for you next week.

13 comments:

  1. Can you say COVERUP???

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  2. Can you say weak story? The cops clearly are undercover investigators ( there identity should be somewhat secured, no?) who could have been part of a task force from multi-agencies. You wrote that they were taken to the police station clearly marked with the name of department which im sure required the undercover officers to have identification. Maybe the investigation is on going? cops dont just drag you to a police station for no reason and take your money under "color of law" those are federal charges on the cops. Lawyers always paint a client "victim" story to file a lawsuit.

    You and Al Crespo are great at what you do but sometime you guys are to eager to do a "breaking story" which end up being shtty.

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  3. 11:27, thanks for the back handed compliment. Of course there's more to the story, we'll discuss the rest of the story in the near future, needless to say, it's not good for the police involved.

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  4. If it's an undercover operation, why ignore the attorney? Why let the situation escalate into a lawsuit?

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  5. Just wondering if anyone knows if the officers are required to give a property receipt when confiscating money? I am no expert but I would assume that a policy is in place that all money is clearly documented and a property receipt given. I would figure the policy would be in place to protect both the subject and the officer. I am sure someone has said an officer has stolen money from them, true or not. To me this does not look like a legit case for the officers involved, unless this is some sort of anti-terror operation approved by Dick Cheney.
    At any rate, Mr. Straw Buyer, keep up the good work. Even if this turns out to be nothing, I’m glad you and the rest of the guys keep the pressure on.

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  6. The Straw Buyer, thanks for posting my back handed compliment. You guys are great, I am biased to police stories. Growing up in the inner city I saw first hand the good things police do in neighborhoods. I have notice growing up in Miami that police are easy, cheap targets for the media and politics yet 99% of the good they do goes untold. How many cops have been shot with AK-47's here in Miami yet if a drug dealer is shot by the police there are Murals posted, protest and media frenzy WTF?
    Your story sounded weak considering all the corruption going on in Miami. I am sure your follow up story will be good, just remember as long as we have corrupt politicians in top positions local goverment as a whole will have endless stories.
    Hope your story will beat the hundreds of million of dollars fraud stories in Miami from government waste.

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  7. Straw Buyer,

    I read the comment by Anonymous @ 11:27 and 11:04. Perhaps it is Julie Bru's girlfriend making these comments. She works for the Miami Police Department.

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  8. In no way shape or form do I want to come across as being anti cop or anti state. I have several very, very good friends that are cops, judges and prosecutors. You're right, the good goes mostly unreported and the image of the fine men and women who dedicate their lives to public service gets tarnished because of a few rotten apples. After getting fucked by a couple of these rotten apples and losing several years of my life (as well as my family's) I take great pleasure in exposing these morally and ethically bankrupt cops, prosecutors and other government employees.

    Stay tuned, next week I'll take another swipe at the assclown MDPD detective that was the subject of my blog early on and see if we can expose his family and his illegal dealings and maybe even get them arrested.

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  9. "MDPD," IS MIAMI DADE POLICE DEPARTMENT?

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  10. If the story is on the "Miami Dade Police Department officers," they are seperate from the City of Miami Police Department which does not operate at the airport.

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  11. did baluja arrest you? Is that the distain?

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