A former Aventura Police officer accused of illegally detaining two men at gunpoint and throwing one of them against his police cruiser earlier this year has been found guilty on all charges.
David Delgado, 30, was convicted on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of false imprisonment, and one misdemeanor count of battery.
Jurors reached the verdict Tuesday afternoon after deliberating for about eight hours. The trial had started last week.
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The incident involving Delgado happened May 20 when Delgado made an unlawful stop and unlawfully detained two men against their will at gunpoint in Pompano Beach, authorities said.
But the incident began earlier in the day at the Aventura Mall, where Delgado's girlfriend works as a valet, according to an arrest warrant.
The warrant said the two victims had gone to the mall to do some shopping before they were heading to to Bayfront Park to perform at the Haitian Compas Festival.
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The victims had valeted their car with the attendant, Delgado's girlfriend, and after leaving the mall and while driving to the festival they found an iPhone in their car that belonged to the girlfriend.
They exchanged calls with her and agreed that they would return the phone on their way back from performing at the festival, but told police there was confusion and miscommunication about where the phone was to be returned, the warrant said.
Since they had to perform another show that night, the men continued to one victim's apartment in Pompano Beach, determining that would return the phone the next day, the warrant said.
But when they arrived at the Pompano Beach apartment, they encountered a marked Aventura Police cruiser and Delgado, who got out and detained them at gunpoint, the warrant said.
Delgado allegedly pointed his weapon and yelled "put your f---ing hands behind your back before I shoot," the warrant said.
The victims said they complied, and Delgado retried the phone, the warrant said. During the encounter, Delgado handcuffed one of the men and threw him against the police car, causing an injury to his knee, the warrant said.
Once Delgado had the phone, he took the handcuffs off the man and left, the warrant said.
The warrant said Delgado had used his phone to track his girlfriend's phone. The day of the incident, Delgado had been assigned to honor guard duties at a Police Benevolent Association gala at Trump National Doral but had gone to Pompano Beach to confront the men and hadn't told his supervisor, the warrant said.
After a complaint was filed by by the two alleged victims, Aventura Police launched an internal affairs investigation, officials said.
In a statement Tuesday, Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor said Delgado "took the law into his own hands after he assumed that the two men were trying to steal" the phone.
"Our job is to pursue justice and hold offenders accountable whether they wear a badge or not," Pryor's statement read. "Nobody is above the law."
Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show Delgado was hired by Aventura Police in February 2019, his first job in Florida law enforcement.
Delgado is expected to be sentenced in 2024 and faces a maximum of up to 21 years in state prison but Pryor said preliminary sentencing guidelines recommend a prison term of more than 3 1/2 years in state prison.
