MIAMI – For Miami-Dade police, this one was personal.
A drunk driver, they said, crashed through a gate and around the memorial honoring fallen officers inside Tropical Park.
Damage to the gate and bricks will likely cost $5,000, according to Chief Angus Butler, president of the Police Officers Assistance Trust, which manages the memorial.
Detectives said Sadiel Ramon Martinez, 28, got drunk at a party, and when he left about 2 a.m. Friday, he drove through Tropical Park, damaged several cars, and ultimately went for a damaging joyride around the memorial.
When officers confronted Martinez, they said he punched one of them in the nose.
Officers used Tasers to subdue him.
Butler said Martinez told detectives he had no ill-will toward officers and didn't remember what he had done.
Martinez is charged with drunk driving, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.
After being treated at a hospital, Martinez was taken to jail. He faces charges of battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting with violence, resisting without violence and driving under the influence.
