Miami Police officer arrested after suspected DUI stop by fellow Miami officers; attorney says his client was ‘sandbagged’ – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

MIAMI (WSVN) – A City of Miami Police officer was pulled over in Northwest Miami-Dade by members of his own department, accused of driving drunk, but his attorney claims his client was set up outside of the law enforcement agency’s jurisdiction.

Miami Police Officer Ernesto Mendez was stopped near Northwest 67th Avenue and 169th Street while driving home from a bar on Aug. 23.

“Smelled the alcohol on his breath,” an officer is heard saying in dash camera video.

According to to the arrest report, Mendez showed “signs of impairment, including the odor of alcohol and diminished fine motor skills, exemplified by dropping his wallet,” during the “traffic stop initiated by a City of Miami officer.”

But why was Mendez pulled over in Northwest Miami-Dade by Miami Police officers? That’s a red flag to Stephan Lopez, Mendez’s attorney.

“It doesn’t pass the smell test,” said Lopez.

Lopez said the fact that his client was pulled over by his own department, who followed him onto Interstate 95 — out of the City of Miami, into Northwest Miami-Dade, is the first flaw.

“My client was sandbagged. They knew where he was, they followed him out of the bar,” he said.

Lopez said his client was a marked man by MiamiPolice’s internal affairs division.

When asked whether he believes the client was set up, Lopez replied, “I think he was.”

Lopez admitted that if a police officer is pulled over and is legitimately drunk, it’s wrong.

Mendez was reported to have been making improper lane changes and impeded an officer’s right of way before the stop.

“He was stopped outside of Miami jurisdiction,” said Lopez.

The dashcam video captured audio of a Miami Police officer who pulled over Mendez discussing the stop with an FHP trooper.

“Once we found out where everything occurred and everything, and it wasn’t our jurisdiction, it was yours. So we have to bow down, gracefully to, you know, the big dogs, you know, that FHP is,” said the officer.

“Why didn’t he stop him in City of Miami jurisdiction?” said Lopez.

Lopez said his client, who won a life-saving medal in 2020 and is a respected gang unit officer, was heading home from Coconut Grove and was being followed by internal affairs detectives.

A Miami Police detective is heard talking to the FHP trooper in the dashcam video.

“One of our unmarked vehicles, assigned to the internal affairs section, basically conducting a quality control [of] this specific officer, regarding the GPS inconsistencies,” said Blanco.

When asked what he thinks those “inconsistencies” could be, Lopez said neither he nor his client know, but he intends to find out.

Mendez refused a Breathalyzer and field sobriety tests during the traffic stop.

A spokesperson for City of Miami Police said Mendez has been relieved of duty with pay, adding they’re unable to discuss the matter further because the officer is under internal affairs investigation.

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