A Miami police officer initially gave a speeder who claimed to be a Florida Highway Patrol trooper a break — but it was a kindness that he came to regret and quickly corrected, records show.
The Miami police officer was working at 8:50 a.m. last Thursday in the area of Northwest Seventh Avenue and 11th Street in Miami’s Overtown area just before the traffic stop, according to the police arrest report.
“I observed a red motorcycle traveling southbound and visually estimated the motorcycle traveling higher than the posted speed limit,” the officer wrote, according to the report. “I activated my laser and obtained a digital reading of 48 mph on a posted 30 mph zone.”
The police officer identified the motorcyclist as Jose Rivero, who stopped and said he was “one of us,” according to the report.
“I am FHP Troop E Miami,” Rivero, 34, told the officer, according to the report.
Rivero, whose driver’s license was suspended, then “presented” an FHP badge that had been issued on Aug. 6, 2014, records show.
“I proceeded to issue a warning,” the police officer wrote, according to the arrest report.
The police officer, however, quickly learned Rivero “was no longer an active trooper” and had been “terminated,” by the agency, according to the report.
The police officer searched for Rivero, found his red motorcycle at Northwest 11th Avenue and West Flagler Street, and saw he “was trying to leave the scene,” according to the report.
Miami police officers arrested Rivero shortly after 9:30 a.m., according to the report. Miami-Dade corrections booked Rivero shortly after 1:15 p.m. at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, according to inmate records.
Court records show prosecutors filed a felony case against Rivero a day later, when he appeared in bond court, facing a charge of falsely impersonating an officer, a third-degree felony. His bond was set at $2,500.
Court records also show the police officer later issued Rivero a citation for a violation of an established speed zone on Thursday. Rivero’s license had been suspended since May 26, after a citation on April 15, according to court records.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Laura Stuzin was set to preside over the felony case.
Local 10 News Assignment Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.
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