New video shows a former Miami Police commander crashing her car — an incident that led to the controversial firing of two veteran police executives.
Deputy Chief Ronald Papier and Commander Nerly Papier were fired back in June amid an internal investigation into the April crash involving Nerly Papier.
A police source confirmed to NBC 6 that the video shows Nerly Papier running up against a curb, forcing two people to jump away.
The video, leaked to a blogger first, says it’s from the police department. But what’s not seen in the footage is what happened seconds before.
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The incident led to the firing of Commander Papier and her husband, with Chief Art Acevedo saying they covered up the crash.
Nerly Papier had told an internal affairs investigator she was driving to work on NW 2nd Avenue right near police headquarters and saw another vehicle inching toward her.
Miami lawyer Michael Pizzi, who represents officers in legal matters, insists the full version of the video tells the whole story.
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"The real video from the real angle shows a black SUV going into Nerly Papier’s lane, sideswiping her, and shows her taking corrective measures and doing the right thing to avoid an accident," Pizzi said.
The leaked video is also another development in Acevedo's orbit. The police chief — who is at odds with several city commissioners — also butted up against at least one internal affairs investigator, sending an email to the IA commander that read in part: "The job of Internal Affairs is to look at an allegation and determine based on the facts if a violation of policy or law occurred. It is not the job of Internal Affairs to look at an allegation and create 'facts' in order to prove that an allegation occurred. That is what I see has been happening."
NBC 6 has requested all the videos from the police department to show in their entirety. Lawyers for the police department say the videos are part of a security system, and regardless of whether they're public or private, police are not obligated to release the videos.
