Miami Beach parking officer fired after arrest on bribery, extortion charges
The parking enforcement officer accused of accepting bribes to ignore violations has been terminated by the city of Miami Beach.
Dante Zirio was fired Tuesday following a pre-disciplinary hearing, a city spokeswoman said.
“I’m glad upon discovery, we immediately followed up, investigated and took swift action,” said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber in a statement. “Integrity matters.”
Police arrested the 20-year city employee on Saturday. He faces six criminal charges, including extortion and bribery. If convicted, he may lose his city-guaranteed pension benefits.
He demanded $1,000 a month from a valet company in exchange for not issuing parking violations against the company, police said.
In a sting operation, police filmed a cash exchange between Zirio and the owner of APS Parking LLC on Saturday and arrested Zirio shortly after. The owner of the valet company, Freddy Diaz, reported the alleged extortion to police.
Following his arrest, police said Zirio told them he extorted Diaz and a second private business, the Mr. Jones nightclub at 320 Lincoln Rd. Zirio said he received $400 from the nightclub for not issuing parking citations to the club, police said.
He was released from jail Saturday after posting the required 10% of his $45,000 bond, said a spokesman for Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation.
In a statement to the Miami Herald on Monday, Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales said the city believes Zirio acted alone. But he directed police to launch an internal investigation.
“We will not tolerate any act of bribery or public corruption in the city of Miami Beach,” he said.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 1:23 PM.
.JPG)