MIAMI LAKES, Fla. – The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will not conduct an investigation into a crash involving Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi.
In an Aug. 3 letter to Town Manager Alex Rey, FDLE Office of Executive Investigations Director Scott McInery wrote that Pizzi's single-car crash "was thoroughly investigated by the Miami-Dade Police Department and the information reviewed by the FDLE found no criminal predicate" to warrant the state police agency's involvement.
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Pizzi crashed his car the night of June 15 after he claimed to have been avoiding an animal in the road.
Police said Pizzi wasn't there when officers first arrived. Later, Pizzi returned and told detectives that he "had a bunch of meetings with people," worked a 20-hour day and was "exhausted."
"I could barely stay awake. I was driving home. ... I got a couple of text messages, a couple of phone calls," Pizzi told a detective in an audio recording obtained by Local 10 News. "All of a sudden I looked. Something cut in front of me. It might have been a cat. It might have been a dog. Next thing I know, I swerve to the right (and) I hit a tree."
LISTEN: Full interview
Pizzi told police that he banged his head and left to go to a friend's house, where he asked his friend to call a tow truck for him.
"I might have been a little distracted," Pizzi said in the recording. "There's a lot of stray dogs and cats here, you know. Something cut in front of me. I'm not sure what it was."
The crash happened less than a month after Pizzi reclaimed his position as mayor. Pizzi was acquitted of bribery and extortion charges in 2014 and had fought to get his old job back. A special election was held to elect a new mayor after Pizzi's arrest.
Pizzi said he had not been drinking and didn't take any medication before the crash.
"This matter is closed," Pizzi said in a statement Wednesday. "I am especially happy that a cloud has been removed from an outstanding town police, who are the best in the business."
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