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Deputy fired after friend uses patrol-car speaker to heckle public
Sun Sentinel ^ | June 22, 2014 | Tonya Alanez

Posted on 06/22/2014 4:55:10 AM PDT by moonshinner_09

FORT LAUDERDALE— The drunken, inappropriate remarks and catcalls coming from the loudspeaker of a marked Broward sheriff's patrol car had bystanders scratching their heads and dialing 911.

It was after 2:30 a.m. on a weekend when the first of several 911 callers reported two young men, not in uniform, driving a marked patrol car through the lively Las Olas and Himmarshee bar-hopping districts with the loudspeaker blaring."They're saying extremely lewd and really stupid things over the P.A.," the first caller reported.

"Apparently there are some kids with dad's off-duty car," another caller said. "They're saying rude comments and driving around. ... I don't think sheriffs would act like that."

It turns out it was an actual deputy behind the wheel.Deputy Rodrigo Mello was off-duty when he took two drunken friends on a joy ride in his marked 2007 Dodge Charger and gave one of them free reign over the P.A. system, according to internal affairs records obtained by the Sun Sentinel.Mello, 33, a deputy for nearly a decade, was fired as a result of the Aug. 11 incident. Since his termination in January, Mello has been seeking to regain his job through an arbitration process.

"The agency is opposing any attempt by him to be reinstated," Veda Coleman-Wright, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office, said Wednesday.

(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Local News; Society
KEYWORDS: broward; donutwatch; drunk; florida
This sounds more like something right out of movie review..
1 posted on 06/22/2014 4:55:11 AM PDT by moonshinner_09
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To: moonshinner_09

Don’t think I’d want this guy back on my police force.


2 posted on 06/22/2014 5:01:31 AM PDT by Dallas59 ("Remember me as you pass by, As you are now, so once was I, As I am now, so you will be")
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To: moonshinner_09

He was probably just as drunk as his two buddies.


3 posted on 06/22/2014 5:05:39 AM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin
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To: Dallas59

Did they order a liter of cola?


4 posted on 06/22/2014 5:06:18 AM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (Liberals make unrealistic demands on reality and reality doesn't oblige them.)
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To: moonshinner_09
An arbitrator has not yet been selected to oversee Mello's quest to regain his job, said Jeff Marano, president of the Police Benevolent Association.

"It's not a career-ender," Marano said of the incident. "Did he do something silly? Yeah, but you don't execute a person for that."

Yeah, Mello probably could have executed a person and gotten a pass.

5 posted on 06/22/2014 5:12:33 AM PDT by csvset
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To: moonshinner_09

The bar was lowered many years ago to become a Police Officer.
You get what you allow............


6 posted on 06/22/2014 5:16:55 AM PDT by SECURE AMERICA (I am an American Not a Republican or a Democrat.)
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To: moonshinner_09

Some people can’t take a joke. Hey - it’s Fort Lauderdale!


7 posted on 06/22/2014 5:26:10 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: moonshinner_09

Perhaps a clown suit would be more suitable for this former cop than his jackboots.


8 posted on 06/22/2014 5:48:20 AM PDT by Fear The People (When the government fears the people, you have LIBERTY.)
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To: moonshinner_09

Back in the mid-70s my parents bought a driveable RV, which we took all over the U.S. For some reason, it had a P.A. system in it, in addition to our C.B. Every once in a while, while parked in a shopping center, my brother and I would crouch down in the front cab and activate the P.A. and say funny things to people walking through the lot.


9 posted on 06/22/2014 6:06:17 AM PDT by rabidralph
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To: moonshinner_09

10 posted on 06/22/2014 7:01:23 AM PDT by Delta 21 (Its my freedom. YES. I will be keeping it.)
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To: SECURE AMERICA

More like you get what you can. Smart people do not want to be a police officer. Bullies do.


11 posted on 06/22/2014 7:02:03 AM PDT by SpeakerToAnimals (I hope to earn a name in battle)
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To: moonshinner_09
"Apparently there are some kids with dad's off-duty car," another caller said. "They're saying rude comments and driving around. ... I don't think sheriffs would act like that."

It's amazing to me how many people have no idea how cops actually act.

12 posted on 06/22/2014 11:17:29 AM PDT by Half Vast Conspiracy (Settled science.)
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To: csvset

” “It’s not a career-ender,” Marano said of
the incident. “Did he do something silly?
Yeah, but you don’t execute a person for
that.””

Ya, but you do fire them when they prove they have insufficent judgement and character. A cop is supposed to have character, no BE a character.

PBA will excuse anything.


13 posted on 06/23/2014 8:50:23 AM PDT by LevinFan
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