Opa-locka mayor’s cousin played part in dismissal, fired chief says. City denies it
Last Thursday an Opa-locka police officer pulled over the mayor’s cousin during a traffic detail and ticketed her for not wearing her seat belt, for not having proof of insurance or registration and because the tag on the silver Nissan she was driving was registered to a black BMW.
An Aug. 13 memo from the officer who ticketed Ramona Pigatt doesn’t mention Mayor Matthew Pigatt by name, but seems to say the officer felt threatened by the woman’s continued questioning.
“The driver Ms. Pigatt on scene advised that she will have my badge and keep [cq] asking me my name continuously on scene,” wrote Opa-locka police officer Hassan Hosein.
The next day Opa-locka Police Chief James Dobson was fired. And by Friday afternoon an Opa-locka cop who was fired five years ago, after being accused of taking part in a wrong-way chase down I-95 that ended in a horrific crash that killed four tourists from California, was leading police administration at the much-maligned law enforcement agency.
Dobson’s attorney, Michael Pizzi, said the chief investigated Ms. Pigatt’s traffic stop and ticketing, then called the city manager to say he was supportive of the officer’s actions.
“He notified the city manager that he backed the officer 100 percent. In the chief’s mind it was very, very clear,” said Pizzi. “In the chief’s mind it’s a no-brainer. The chief believes this played a role in his termination.”
Mayor Pigatt called Dobson’s claim meritless.
“Such a baseless accusation is a symptom of the old Opa-locka,” he said. “The hiring and firing of employees has nothing to do with me or the city commission. It is the city manager’s decision.”
City Manager John Pate said the ticketing of Ramona Pigatt had no bearing on Dobson’s termination.
“I have no indication that the matter was not handled properly,” he said.
It’s not unusual for police to bring attention to their bosses of incidents that involve well-known personalities or a family member of a city employee. Pate said the mayor didn’t alert him or question him about the ticketing of his relative.
Body-camera footage from the traffic stop released Monday by the city shows the officer and Ramona Pigatt acting civilly toward each other. When Ramona Pigatt tells Hosein, “I need your name and badge number,” he responds by telling her the information is on the bottom of the ticket.
Then the officer gets out of his patrol car and explains the infractions to Ramona Pigatt, who walks back to her car.
Though the city manager said the incident appeared to be handled properly, he said he was reviewing the video and that discipline may be warranted for the officer.
“Based on my observation, the body cam was [turned] on after the fact, after already having the initial contact with that individual,” Pate said.
Pate fired Dobson on Friday, less than three months after an independent review determined the city’s police department was not able to respond to calls for service in a “professional manner.” The review also found that officers were not properly trained or evaluated, that policies were outdated and that evidence was being stored in private, unsecured lockers.
Pate said Dobson was removed because of the city’s high crime rate and because he had failed to implement any of the recommended changes in the months after the review.
Since Dobson’s firing, Officer Sergio Perez was promoted to lieutenant and is at least temporarily running the administrative division of the department. Perez was fired five years ago after a 2013 crash for “pursuing a vehicle the wrong way on a highway” just prior to the accident. Police investigators determined Perez was chasing a convicted felon named Willie Dumel, who at the time was awaiting trial on four counts of manslaughter.
The night of the crash, Perez said he saw Dumel making an illegal right turn. Perez later told his superiors that he broke off the pursuit. Audio from police radio transmissions appeared to contradict him.
“This guy is all over the road,” dispatchers recorded Perez saying, his siren on in the background. “Now he’s going against traffic on I-95. We’re going northbound in the southbound lanes.”
Dumel’s car plowed into a rental SUV headed in the opposite direction. Killed were Lily-Marie Azarcon, 26, who worked for a Philippines-based real estate developer; her colleague Dennis Ryan Riñon Ortiz, 33; U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd class Albertson Anthony Almase, 31, and his sister, Kristina Angela Almase, 26, a nurse. The two women had children.
After the accident, Perez was fired. But he was reinstated in November 2015 after an arbitrator ruled the city’s probe was flawed and investigators incorrectly stated that the Florida Highway Patrol said Perez was a contributing factor to the crash. When Perez returned to work, the city fired him again.
In early 2017, Perez sued to get his job back. But before the judge ruled, the city agreed to a settlement that included reinstating Perez. Despite the dispatch recording, Perez’s union lawyer said three witnesses independently confirmed that Perez never raced the wrong way down the highway.
“It’s absolutely untrue,” said Police Benevolent Association attorney Andrew Axelrad.
Pate, the city manager, defended the decision to promote Perez on Monday.
“Mr. Perez was afforded the due process that law enforcement officers accused of administrative wrongdoing are allowed,” he said. “His personnel file at time of his selection to Police Lieutenant was clean of any misconduct, nor did Mr. Perez have any pending allegations of misconduct.”
Still, at least one relative of one of the tourists killed in the crash was shocked to hear Perez still has a police job, let alone was now overseeing administration of the department.
“I thought he was fired. This is the first time I’m hearing this. I’m really stunned,” said Azarcon’s uncle, Constantine Azarcon. “The Opa-locka police department is just not a good police department.”
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
