Hialeah

Family of Man Killed in Hialeah Police Shooting After 2017 Chase Files Lawsuit

Lester Machado led a police chase back in 2017 and was killed by Hialeah officers, who shot over 100 rounds

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Attorneys for a man who was shot to death by Hialeah police back in 2017 say they have new evidence to prosecute the officers involved in the fatal shooting.

The family of Lester Machado believes he was the victim of a cover-up in a bad shooting situation where officers fired over 100 times.

"This is not something you could have just looked at one report and said, 'aha, this is a cover-up of a bad shooting,'" said Rick Diaz, the family's attorney. "It took a lot of time." 

One new piece of evidence is the 911 call between a dispatcher with the Hialeah Fire Rescue Department and another with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. In the call, they're heard deciding on who should respond to the scene.

In the ten minutes it took them to decide, Machado lay in his car bleeding to death. 

On Oct. 1, 2017, Hialeah police officers tried to get Machado, who was driving a white Honda Civic, to pull over. They said he had a broken tail light, but Machado kept driving.

Multiple patrols began to follow Machado after an officer claimed he had tried to ram one of their units. A chase began and Machado crashed into a Metrorail column on Northwest 79th Street.

Officers started shooting at Machado's car, discharging over 100 rounds of bullets. Machado was unarmed. 

"I think what they did was an injustice," said Lass Morales, Machado's sister.

Machado's mother, Yolaisy Perez, said everything has been a lie since the day her son died.

His attorneys also have other videos of the scene that they say show a discrepancy between what the officers said and what actually happened. They also claim some other key video has now gone missing.

Machado's attorneys had first filed the lawsuit four years ago. The Hialeah police shooting was investigated by its own department. 

"So I think that they were very effective in keeping everybody's eyes off the ball except ours when it came to us," Diaz said.

The State Attorney's office had already cleared the officers of any wrongdoing four years ago. And right now, the City of Hialeah is not responding to any question about the newly amended lawsuit. 

The family is seeking $30 million in damages from the Hialeah police officers and the city. 

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