Two Florida officers arrested, accused of issuing citations to drivers they never pulled over

Two Florida police officers were arrested and are accused of issuing citations to drivers they never pulled over.

Hialeah, Fla., Officers Ernesto Arias-Martinez and Armando Perez were arrested and are being accused of issuing dozens of citations to nine people they never pulled over or made aware the tickets happened, the Miami-Herald reported.

The two are being charged with felony counts of official misconduct and falsifying public records.

The duo was caught when a defense law firm called Reicel Sosa Polo asking him if he wanted legal help for the 10 traffic tickets he had received, but Polo did not know what the firm was talking about.

Polo said he remembered passing two motorcycle officers, but he was never pulled over.

Roso filed a complaint with Hialeah police, as did another woman who got a letter from the state saying she had six unpaid tickets she needed to pay or her license would be suspended. Like Roso, this woman was never pulled over.

“When police officers create false traffic tickets, as we are alleging happened here, they damage the reputation of their own department and the reputations of every police officer working to serve our Miami-Dade community,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said.

Hialeah Police Detective Paulina Whitney of the internal affairs bureau said in the arrest warrant that the complaint led to an internal investigation by the department that turned up additional victims and dozens of tickets, according to the local outlet.

“As law enforcement officers, we are entrusted in protecting and serving our residents, and these alleged actions have violated the trust of the people and rightfully so,” Hialeah Fraternal Order of Police President Marlon Espinoza said. 

“We ask that our community not judge all our dedicated officers by the alleged actions of two. The Hialeah Police Department is comprised of brave men and women, who day in and day out, abide by their oath to protect and serve our residents and the great City of Hialeah,” he added.

Perez had been with the department for five years, while Arias-Martinez has been with the department for less than four years.