A police officer faces charges of depriving people of their civil rights, in regards to several witness accounts from females he pulled over "without probable cause, reasonable suspicion or other lawful authority to conduct a stop", and then engaged them in "sexually suggestive conversations", as reported by the Miami Herald.
According to federal authorities, the conversations included asking the women to expose their breasts – allegedly so that he could see scars from their breast enlargement surgeries – or talk about their underwear.
The conversations never resulted in citations being issued.
The officer, P.D., 33, with the Miami-Dade Police Department, was arrested by FBI agents at police headquarters on September 5. He has been released on a $150,000 personal surety bond and must return to court for his arraignment on September 19.
P.D., a seven-year veteran with the force, had already been assigned to desk duty in the summer of 2011 due to suspicions in regards to the traffic stops.
The FBI has compiled a criminal complaint targeting the stops he made between May and June of last summer.
On May 27, according to the complaint, P.D. pulled over a 19 year-old woman that had just left a nightclub. The woman, A.R., claims that P.D. stopped her for a failure to illuminate her headlights and for suspicion of DUI.
P.D. then instructed A.R. to leave her car and be seated in the rear of his police cruiser. Once in the back seat, P.D. allegedly told A.R. to "lower the zipper on the front of her dress down past her breasts to her mid-stomach."
Nearly ninety minutes had passed before P.D. released A.R. – without issuing her a citation or examining her driver's license. Records do not show the traffic stop included in his daily activity report and his dispatcher was not advised of the stop.
At 5:30 in the morning, on the same day, P.D. pulled over a female bartender for suspicion of DUI. The woman, M.F., requested that P.D. allow her to take a field sobriety test – he allegedly refused. Instead P.D., noting a child safety seat in the car, told M.F. that she could loose custody of her child if he arrested her for DUI.
The complaint states that P.D. then questioned M.F. about her breast enhancement. P.D. asked "if she had any photographs of her breasts" and M.F. showed him what she had on her cellular phone. As the conversation continued, P.D. asked M.F. to show him her breasts, and she complied. P.D. then determined that M.F. was sober enough to drive home, but that he would follow her there for safety's sake.
Once at M.F.'s residence, P.D. asked to come in for a drink of water and proceeded to stay in the home for over an hour, continually questioning her about her personal life.
P.D. failed to issued M.F. a citation, check her driver's license, list the incident on his daily activity report or tell his dispatcher of the encounter.
A further incident occurred on June 5, involving two couples, in which he questioned one of the women about her underwear, pointed his flashlight at her cleavage and "pulled his pant's zipper down."
Even police officers can be charged with criminal offenses, no one is immune. If you have been charged with a crime, contact a criminal defense attorney for help with your case today.
