MIAMI â Around midnight, a man pulled up just past the driveway of Hector Rodriguez s home in Hialeah, Florida, got out of his van and poured a can of gasoline on Rodriguez s pickup truck, leaving a trail-like fuse of accelerant on the pavement.
At a safe distance, the man then lit the liquid trail. Seconds later flames engulfed the driver s side, hood and engine of Rodriguez s black Chevrolet Silverado.
As the arsonist fled in the van with the help of a getaway driver, Rodriguez heard the Chevy s alarm going off. He rushed outside with a fire extinguisher. His girlfriend grabbed a garden hose. Both tried to put out the blaze while standing behind a chain-link fence. Desperate, Rodriguez opened the gate and sprayed the extinguisher at close range, but it was too late.
Cops Busted for Allegedly Issuing False Tickets to People Never Pulled Over complex.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from complex.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
2 officers arrested for allegedly falsifying traffic tickets in Hialeah
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HIALEAH, Fla. – Who is Martcello Strovanov? Officer Ernesto Arias-Martinez reported Strovanov, who was born on Aug. 23, 1969, was driving a 2014 Ford truck with Florida tag 352TJX in Hialeah, records show.
Aurelio Echevarria, the registered owner of the truck, told officers he didn’t know Strovanov. According to Detective Paulina Whitney, Arias-Martinez issued Strovanov five citations on Feb. 21, 2020.
After an investigation stemming from similar incongruencies in traffic cases, Whitney reported the truck exists, but Strovanov doesn’t. Arias-Martinez is accused of writing fiction.
“There are no identities under that name.”
According to Hialeah Police Chief Sergio Velázquez, two of his officers, Arias-Martinez and Armando Perez, who both serve as traffic motormen in Hialeah, surrendered on Wednesday. They walked out of Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center hours later.
The victims of the alleged false tickets received multiple traffic citations without ever having knowledge of having committed a traffic violation, officials said.
One victim “officially” received 18 citations on February 13, 2020, and then received 6 others the following day, all allegedly without his knowledge or without his ever having received a tangible citation. The victim recalled being stopped by Hialeah motorcycle officers, being asked for his vehicle’s documents, and then being told he would receive a citation in the mail. No actual traffic citation allegedly ever appeared.
Mail solicitations for legal representation in traffic court led to the victim’s discovery of the situation and he contacted the Hialeah Police Department.
Hialeah Police have arrested a man accused of killing his estranged wife Friday morning during a domestic dispute. Joel Luis Polanco is currently in custody facing a first-degree murder charge, police announced Saturday. Officers say the 40-year-old victim suffered several gunshot wounds during the incident that took place around 7 a.m. Friday morning at the 690 block of 40th Street. The…