Cops Busted for Allegedly Issuing False Tickets to People Never Pulled Over complex.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from complex.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
2 officers arrested for allegedly falsifying traffic tickets in Hialeah
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HIALEAH, Fla. – Who is Martcello Strovanov? Officer Ernesto Arias-Martinez reported Strovanov, who was born on Aug. 23, 1969, was driving a 2014 Ford truck with Florida tag 352TJX in Hialeah, records show.
Aurelio Echevarria, the registered owner of the truck, told officers he didn’t know Strovanov. According to Detective Paulina Whitney, Arias-Martinez issued Strovanov five citations on Feb. 21, 2020.
After an investigation stemming from similar incongruencies in traffic cases, Whitney reported the truck exists, but Strovanov doesn’t. Arias-Martinez is accused of writing fiction.
“There are no identities under that name.”
According to Hialeah Police Chief Sergio Velázquez, two of his officers, Arias-Martinez and Armando Perez, who both serve as traffic motormen in Hialeah, surrendered on Wednesday. They walked out of Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center hours later.
Hialeah motorcycle cops charged with issuing bogus tickets to drivers they never pulled over David Ovalle, The Miami Herald
Apr. 21 Two Hialeah police motorcycle officers surrendered on Wednesday to face allegations they issued dozens of bogus traffic tickets to motorists.
Prosecutors charged Ernesto Arias-Martinez, 23, and Armando Perez, 40, with multiple felony counts of official misconduct and falsifying public records. They were being jailed early Wednesday and are expected to post bond by later in the day.
Perez had been with Hialeah for five years, Arias-Martinez less than four.
The scheme began to unravel thanks in part to a defense law firm chasing business.
The victims of the alleged false tickets received multiple traffic citations without ever having knowledge of having committed a traffic violation, officials said.
One victim “officially” received 18 citations on February 13, 2020, and then received 6 others the following day, all allegedly without his knowledge or without his ever having received a tangible citation. The victim recalled being stopped by Hialeah motorcycle officers, being asked for his vehicle’s documents, and then being told he would receive a citation in the mail. No actual traffic citation allegedly ever appeared.
Mail solicitations for legal representation in traffic court led to the victim’s discovery of the situation and he contacted the Hialeah Police Department.
Florida officers issued false tickets to drivers they never pulled over, police say tampabay.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tampabay.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.