BISCAYNE PARK, Fla. – The police chief in the small northeast Miami-Dade village of Biscayne Park has resigned after an internal probe found he used his position to “bypass” background check procedures to “hire individuals who would otherwise be denied employment,” including fired former cops and a man with “a lengthy criminal history.”
Biscayne Park Village Manager Chris Truitt announced the resignation of Chief Luis Cabrera in an email Wednesday evening, one month after the top cop was placed on leave.
The village’s review “uncovered many issues” within the department, Truitt said, but, in particular, it highlighted three questionable hires.
The village gave three examples: Benny Lee, Jose Castro and Chris Castro.
Lee, who has since been fired and is under criminal investigation, was hired as a village cop despite having been “fired by two other local law enforcement agencies,” Truitt said.
“Chief Cabrera ordered BPPD’s background investigator to clear Mr. Lee for hiring without performing a thorough background investigation,” the village manager said. “Mr. Lee has since been terminated for improperly removing personal belongings, narcotics, and firearms from BPPD’s evidence room. A criminal investigation is currently pending regarding Mr. Lee’s conduct.”
Cabrera also bypassed procedures to hire Jose Castro and his son, Chris, the probe found.
“Jose Castro has a lengthy criminal history including assault and battery, domestic assault, a weapons violation, and instances of impersonating a police officer,” Truitt said, but Cabrera “created a volunteer background investigator position” and appointed him to that role and twice sponsored him for the police academy, despite the fact that he would otherwise be disqualified had Cabrera not bypassed background checks.
“While employed with the Village, Mr. Castro was working as a private security guard for the celebrity Shakira,” the investigation found. “In a recent incident, Mr. Castro detained a trespasser at (her Miami Beach home at) gunpoint, called 911 and identified himself as an off-duty Biscayne Park police officer with a BPPD badge number, and was seen on responding officer’s body cam footage holstering his weapon as police arrived. Mr. Castro is not a police officer and is not authorized by the Village to openly carry a firearm.”
That incident took place on Jan. 8, according to the investigation, the same day an El Paso, Texas man was arrested after police said he drove to South Florida — and to Shakira’s home — to stalk the Colombian singer.
In the suspect’s arrest report, Miami Beach police identified “Officer Castro (Biscayne Park #25)” as the complainant in that incident.
Castro’s son, Chris, “was hired despite being terminated from another law enforcement agency and having six internal affairs investigations on his record,” Truitt said.
“He has since been terminated for failure to complete probation due to multiple issues including mishandling of evidence and receiving several complaints from citizens,” the village manager continued.
Truitt said he also “discovered multiple other issues including incomplete personnel files, incomplete training documentation, the complete absence of an inventory management system, a failed evidence management system and multiple accusations of cronyism.”
He said Cabrera chose to resign after being presented with the information and the town is now looking for a new police chief, saying the findings shouldn’t reflect poorly on the village’s police officers.
Cabrera is not the first chief in the small, residential suburb of about 3,000 people to leave the position under a swirl of controversy.
Biscayne Park’s former police chief, Raimundo Atesiano, pleaded guilty in 2018 to framing innocent Black males in order to pin crimes on them.
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