Life imitates art.
Posted on 12/17/2010 11:00:08 PM PST by nickcarraway
Officer tried to sell $100,000 worth of stolen Bluetooth headsets
An undercover Miami police officer who was involved in the shootings of two teen robbery suspects within days of each other over the summer was arrested by the FBI on unrelated charges.
Officer Ricardo Martinez a veteran of the city's gang unit with 12 years on the job, was arrested Thursday for trying to sell a shipment of stolen Bluetooth headsets to the FBI, federal investigators said Friday.
Martinez, 40, had a court appearance Friday in federal court. If convicted on possession of stolen goods, he could face 10 years in prison.
"The charges today have nothing to do with his position as a police officer and nothing to do with the two [shooting] incidents," defense attorney Myles Malman.
The stolen headsets were taken off a shipment from Chicago and were worth more than $100,000. Martinez and another man were supposed to split the profits of the sell, 40-60. The other suspect was an individual known to the FBI, but it's unclear if that person was an informant.
Martinez, who was released on $100,000 bond, has been under fire since being investigated for two shootings in Overtown and Liberty City.
The first shooting Martinez was involved in happened Aug. 11 outside an Overtown apartment complex.
Police said 16-year-old Joel Lee Johnson had ordered a pizza earlier in the day, then robbed the delivery man. Police said Martinez shot Johnson during a sting in which an officer posed as a deliveryman. The complete circumstances behind the shooting aren't known, but police said Johnson was armed. Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado later said it was a "clear case of police acting in self defense."
The second shooting happened just nine days later, on Aug. 20., when Martinez fired at a bicycle-riding robbery suspect in Liberty City. Police said 19-year-old Tarnorris Tyrell Gaye had robbed a woman and was carrying a shotgun when police confronted him. When Gaye pointed the gun at Martinez and another officer, they opened fire.
Commissioner Richard P. Dunn said that shooting, too, was justified.
Just as in Los Angeles, “Miami” has two police departments that are very different within their respective counties.
Besides stealing bluetooths, he sounds like a great cop.
He pissed someone high up off. They probably not going to get their cut of the loot.
Ricardo Martinez a veteran of the city's gang unit with 12 years on the job, was arrested Thursday for trying to sell a shipment of stolen Bluetooth headsets to the FBIOkay, he's a bad boy, but at least he shot a couple of gangsters to death. Thanks nickcarraway.
Indeed. Imagine the cost of trying these people. It's much better to have the police determine guilt or innocence (but we know everyone is guilty), decide the sentence then carryout the sentence. Society is much better under this model.
Life imitates art.
The charges today have nothing to do with his position as a police officer , a police officer is suppose to be held to a higher standard. As a police officer, he was more aware what the laws were as he was breaking them.
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