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Even now, FHP is having difficulty investigating the crash and has not filed charges in the case. "Believe it or not, the investigation is still ongoing," Capt. Roberts says. "Some of the witnesses have been reluctant to come forward. We're issuing subpoenas." Roberts would neither confirm nor deny that Hollywood police officers are the ones who haven't given statements.
For her part, Rodriguez has received merely token punishment. An IA investigation could prove only that she was using a police vehicle after hours, resulting in a 30-hour suspension for a policy violation. To avoid losing pay, Rodriguez used 30 hours of vacation time during her unpaid suspension.
"All they gave her was a slap on the wrist," Elder says disgustedly.
VINICIO PEREZ
Vinicio Perez is another problem at the Hollywood Police Department -- a man whose temper seems to be so out of control that he's been accused of assaulting people while both on- and off-duty.
Perez was hired in July 1993. Records show that his application was accepted even though his driver's license had been suspended from 1987 to 1991. Hansen's inquiry listed Perez as one of 17 officers with moderate to serious problems on his application. Indeed, Hollywood took him on after he was rejected by nine other police agencies. Since then, he's received 15 IA complaints, only one of them sustained.
New Times asked to interview Perez for this article. The department refused. Asked about the multiple complaints regarding Perez, Capt. Rode would say only: "The facts speak for themselves."
Perez's problems began on April 26, 1996, when he arrested Robert A. Fiengo, a 31-year-old who had been given three years' probation in 1994 for sexual battery on a minor. That night, Perez arrested Fiengo on North State Road 7 after he allegedly tried to steal a 16-foot boat trailer from a shop. Perez stated that after a brief dispute, he handcuffed Fiengo and took him to the Hollywood Police Department to be processed.
Perez claimed in his report that after Fiengo heard the officer's name, he tried to intimidate him, saying: "Vinnie, Vinnie Perez. You better say goodbye to your family." What the officer didn't mention was an event that occurred later. Earlier, police command staff had installed cameras in an elevator in the rear of police headquarters and in the detention area in response to repeated complaints of excessive use of force. One of those cameras caught Perez.
In a fuzzy, soundless videotape, Perez and Fiengo can be seen riding together in the elevator. Fiengo is handcuffed, with Perez thumbing through papers. Suddenly, the officer moves the papers from his right to his left hand, screams at Fiengo, clenches his right fist, and throws a punch that knocks the defenseless prisoner to the floor.
On July 17, 1996, a Broward grand jury indicted Perez for simple battery. "It is something that happened that should have never happened," Perez said during a hearing. But the officer lucked out. Not long before the case was scheduled for trial, Fiengo electrocuted himself while remodeling his Davie home. (There was no evidence of foul play.) The Broward State Attorney's Office's case fell apart. Prosecutors dropped the charge.
A group of senior officers persuaded Rick Stone, then chief of police, not to fire Perez. Instead, the officer received a 160-hour suspension without pay.
Three years later, Perez faced termination and possible criminal charges once again when, on August 4, 1999, an accident victim complained to Sgt. Andrew Diaz that Perez had been rude and abusive. According to internal police reports, Diaz called Perez into his office to discuss the incident. Not long after closing the door and beginning their discussion, Diaz realized that Perez had a voice-activated tape recorder hidden in his vest pocket.
Diaz ended the conversation and reported it. Police brass forwarded the information to the State Attorney's Office. Although prosecutors declined to file charges, Assistant State Attorney Bernie Hollar confirmed that Perez's actions were criminal. Florida law prohibits individuals from secretly tape-recording private conversations if there's an expectation of privacy.
According to personnel reports, Perez admitted to his superiors that, after the Fiengo incident, he began tape-recording everything while on duty to disprove potential false claims.