A former officer in the Hialeah Police Department has been acquitted of all charges stemming from his 2021 arrest for allegedly falsifying tickets.
Miami-Dade court records show Armondo Perez was acquitted on all 10 charges Monday, after he was arrested in April 2021 for allegedly writing bogus traffic citations in the city.
A second officer arrested, Ernesto Arias-Martinez, took a plea deal after his arrest.
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Perez had faced five counts of falsifying public records and five counts of official misconduct. Hialeah Police have not commented on the acquittal.
Perez and Arias-Martinez were arrested on official misconduct and falsifying public records charges.
The victims of the alleged false tickets received multiple traffic citations without ever having knowledge of having committed a traffic violation, officials said.
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One victim “officially” received 18 citations on February 13, 2020, and then received 6 others the following day, all allegedly without his knowledge or without his ever having received a tangible citation. The victim recalled being stopped by Hialeah motorcycle officers, being asked for his vehicle’s documents, and then being told he would receive a citation in the mail. No actual traffic citation allegedly ever appeared.
Mail solicitations for legal representation in traffic court led to the victim’s discovery of the situation and he contacted the Hialeah Police Department.
An audit was conducted of the officers’ activities and 8 additional alleged victims were discovered with similar patterns of citation activity being indicated, officials said.
In some cases, false names were allegedly used in writing the “official” citations combined with actual information taken from the targeted vehicle drivers.
