A Sweetwater police officer is facing charges after authorities say he falsified an official statement after he was involved in an on-duty crash last year.
Alejandro Daniel Ramos, 32, was arrested Monday on a charge of official misconduct by a public servant. He bonded out of jail and it's unknown if he's hired an attorney.
"It's a very sad day when one has to put cuffs on one of our own," Sweetwater Police Chief Placido Diaz said. "It hits you at a personal level. We all know what it is to be a police officer, we all know what it is to uphold the law, but when you're caught on the other side of the law it's a difficult position to be in, especially when one sees him or herself going behind bars."
The charge stems from a crash that happened back on Feb. 17, 2015, at the intersection of Southwest 107th Avenue and West Flagler Street.
According to an arrest warrant, Ramos was on-duty and driving his marked police car when he began to respond to a call of an officer needing assistance at a bank and was T-boned by a pickup truck at the intersection.
Police protocol is for an officer to come to a complete stop at intersections when responding to a call.
Ramos told a Florida Highway Patrol trooper that as he approached a red light at the intersection he stopped and cleared the intersection using due care, the warrant said. As a result of Ramos' statement, the trooper issued a citation to the driver of the pickup.
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But when a red light camera from the intersection was reviewed, it showed that Ramos failed to slow down or stop for the red light signal and went straight through the intersection, the warrant said.
"[Ramos] falsified an official statement while on duty as a police officer to Florida Highway Patrol for the official document of the traffic crash report," the warrant said. " As a result, the victim was found at fault and was given a citation. [Ramos] benefited from the falsifying of an official record by avoiding citations and/or sanctions and/or disciplinary actions."
Arraignment for Ramos is scheduled for May 18. He has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of his case, officials said.
