Does anybody find the irony in a Miami police officer clashing with a plainclothes internal affairs lieutenant who was initially pulled over for speeding, and briefly arrested for shoving the door on the cop, who was then suspended for secretly recording the incident on his personal GoPro camera? Oh, yes you do…
The story and the video footage was first shared on the Crespogram blog, which said the incident occurred last month outside a gas station on Flagler Street and 18th Avenue, when Miami police officer Marcel Jackson stopped Lieutenant David Ramras from Internal Affairs. As it turned out, Ramras was from the same department as Officer Jackson, but the cop did not know that at the time he stopped him.
After pulling over Ramras, who was not in uniform and was driving an unmarked Chevrolet sedan, we see Jackson in the video asking for his driver’s license. The man appears to refuse and then pushes his door open, at which point, an altercation ensued, which ended with Jackson throwing Ramras down to the ground. Amazingly, only a couple seconds later, three squad cars appear to help the cop.
In the video footage, we hear Ramras getting up and yelling, “You do know who the f…k I am,” to which Jackson responds, “No, I don’t,”.
While Miami patrol cars do not carry dashboard cameras on their vehicles, Jackson apparently fitted his own personal filming device on the car that captured the incident. Upon returning to his vehicle, he seemingly placed his camera out of sight, but it was still on and it recorded a phone call he had with a person named “Rick” in which he gave his side of the story.
“It was a regular vehicle, regular tag, regular everything,” we hear Officer Jackson telling the man.
“I walk up to the guy, you know, I ask him for his driver’s license, registration and insurance, and he’s like, you know, um, quiet with me, and he’s like, ‘what’s all that stuff on your face?’ and I’m like, ‘excuse me?’ I said that’s none of your concern and then he pushes open his door and hits me with the door. So I pushed the door back and tell him to stay in the car, and he’s like ‘I’m Lieutenant of Police, I’m Lieutenant of Police’ and he pushes his way out. So, I took him to the ground and I tell him to stop. Luckily, some K9 officers pulled up and helped me out. Dude, this guy is a Lieutenant from my department. And I tell him, I don’t care who you are – you don’t jump out like that on me.”
We then hear Jackson say:
“You know, I was actually on my way to a call. The only reason why I stopped him is because he approached a pedestrian. He was flying, so I pulled him over. I was just going to make contact with him, but he’s running around trying to pull muscle and rank, but I’m telling him, sir, you can’t do that. He’s telling me, ‘get the f…k in your car’ and I was like, ‘what; who are you talking to?'”
“I said, sir, license, registration and insurance. Just like any 19 I’ve ever done in my life, dude. And this guy…just jumps down my throat. And I’m like, ok, um…he didn’t even give me a chance to say what I pulled him over for.”
Later on Jackson tells Rick:
“I thought I was going to shoot this man…cause I didn’t know if he was armed, whether he is a police officer or not. I told him don’t go for no weapons, don’t you do nothing – I will shoot you, I told him straight up.”
You may be wondering how did the video ended up on the web. Well, here’s what Crespopgram said:
“I have never met or spoken to Officer Marcel Jackson about this, or any other incident. I did not receive the tape from him, and initially I was leery of doing a story about this because I suspected that I was provided the tape and the information about what happened in a back hand way to hurt him. I was able to confirm to my satisfaction that while he had nothing to do with how I got the tape, it was provided to me by people interested in seeing that Jackson did not get railroaded”
According to a report from the Miami Herald, the two officers involved in the scuffle have been “relieved of their posts for now”, but for different reasons.
Undercover Lt. Ramras was transferred from internal affairs to a post in command staff’s office doing paperwork, pending investigation, while Jackson was relieved of duty with pay, because according to police, “he refused to hand over the personal GoPro camera that recorded the event as well as several traffic violations”.
Crespo said that Ramras’ move is considered by some people “a promotion of sorts” adding that he was provided an attorney by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) of which Jackson is also a member.
“Jackson went out and got his own lawyer, because even though the video tape clearly shows that Ramras was the aggressor in his efforts to get out of his car, Jackson as the low man on the totem pole is believed to be the one who stands the best chance of actually being punished over this incident,” Crespo reported.
Police Chief Manuel Orosa told the Miami Herald that he is not sure yet what caused the scuffle, but stated that “Ramras identified himself and provided identification before getting out of the car”.
As for Jackson, Orosa said: “An officer recording traffic stops with a private camera, the rules say you can’t do that. We’re liable for what he does at work and it [the video] needs to be stored for safekeeping. If it’s destroyed, that’s a no-no.”
Mayor Tomás Regalado said that the video was “a shame.”
“It really looks bad because it’s right in the middle of Flagler and you have a plain-clothes officer fighting another officer,” said the mayor. “But it doesn’t represent our police department.”
Crespo also raised another issue – one that surely crosses the minds of the rest of us:
“If I had been stopped, and I had attempted to do what the police lieutenant did, I would have been arrested,” he said. “I might even have been shot.”
Thoughts?
By John Halas
VIDEO