Hollywood police officers involved in cover-up

July 31, 2009

For all Ft. Lauderdale and Miami criminal defense lawyers, beware: the police may be concocting stories against your clients. All Miami and Ft. Lauderdale defense attorneys have dealt with officer misconduct for years. As Miami DUI lawyers, we all know the serious implications of having a DUI on your record. Our clients tell us that the police are making up lies or that the arrest affidavits filed against them are untrue. In our profession, it is often very difficult to prove that law enforcement officers are not telling the truth about our client's cases. For a change, the police were caught red-handed.

Four Hollywood police officers were caught on a dashboard video camera contriving a cover-up scheme against a woman who was involved in a traffic accident with a police cruiser. Back in February, a Hollywood police officer rear-ended a woman and charged her with four counts of DUI and a citation for making an improper lane change.

The Hollywood police officers involved in the cover-up are Officer Joel Francisco, Officer Dewey Pressley, Sgt. Andrew Diaz, and Community Service Officer Karim Thomas. All Miami and Ft. Lauderdale DUI lawyers should immediately check the witness list attached to the discovery packet provided by the Broward County State Attorney's Office. If any of these officers are involved in your Ft. Lauderdale DUI case, this information should be useful in obtaining a favorable result for your client.

Officer Pressley wrote in his police report that the woman driver accused of DUI was operating her automobile with a large gray cat on her lap. The report went on to say that the cat jumped out of the window which caused the woman driver to swerve in front of Officer Francisco's cruiser and slam on her brakes causing the accident. Francisco purportedly approached the woman's driver side window and noticed a strong smell of alcohol on her breath.

After the accident, all four officers were caught on the video dashboard camera contriving the cover-up and manipulating the facts to absolve the officer and blame the woman for the crash. Upon review of the video, all four officers were placed on administrative duty until a formal internal investigation by the police department is conducted. The Broward County State attorney's office is also investigating the incident.

Hollywood Police Caught Red-Handed in Cover-Up Scheme!, Justice News Flash.Com, July 30, 2009