Judge denies bond for two men charged with trying to kill Miami-Dade undercover cop
Two men charged with conspiring to kill an undercover police officer were denied bond Thursday and ordered to remain in jail until trial —despite the officer admitting that he couldn’t identify the person who shot him.
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Alberto Milian couldn’t be swayed to release the men, Atiba Moore and accused shooter Steve Gallon IV. Gallon is the son of long-time Miami-Dade School Board member Steve Gallon, who was in court Thursday looking on from the gallery.
Their defense attorneys argued from that Gallon wasn’t aware that the victim, Miami-Dade Police Officer Darrion Washington, was actually an undercover cop, that investigators had concocted numerous untrue allegations and that Washington could not identify his assailant.
In denying the men bond, Milian said he couldn’t overlook Moore’s failure to abide by three pre-trial agreements in at least two separate cases. And, the judge said, even if Gallon wasn’t aware Washington was a cop when he was shot him, Gallon had still tried to kill someone.
In a courtroom packed on one side by police officers and union representatives and the other by Gallon’s family and friends, Milian said he believed the state met its burden in finding enough probable cause to keep the men jailed until trial.
“Doubt my judgment,” the judge told those attending the hearing. “But don’t doubt my integrity.”
Gallon IV, 33 and Moore, 30, have both been charged with the first-degree attempted murder of Washington, who works mainly on undercover narcotics stings. .
Police believe that Moore was part of an operation that supplies drugs to Miami-Dade jails. They were following him the afternoon of March 8 when a sting went awry and Washington ended up being grazed by a bullet in back of his neck. According to testimony from Washington, officers began tailing Moore that day from his home in Broward County and followed him to a barbershop at Northwest 17th Avenue and 82nd Street.
There, they believe he set up some type of drug deal. With a helicopter helping him track the suspect, Washington tailed Moore south. On the radio with other members of his team, Washington admitted to scuttling a plan for patrol officers to turn on their sirens and lights and pull Moore over. But Washington, in an unmarked white Toyota Camry, kept following Moore towards a home near Northwest 46th Street and Fifth Avenue.
He told defense attorneys that he followed Moore three times around the block at about 35 mph, before someone suddenly jumped out in front of his car, forcing him to swerve and crash into Moore’s parked car. Then, Washington said, he put his badge on around his neck, got out of the car and said “police,” before ordering Moore to the ground. Moore, he said, kept walking.
Washington said he then got back into his car and drove towards Moore before he caught up to him and ordered him to the ground. By then he realized he’d been shot so he took his shirt and badge and chain off and threw it into the car and made his way down the street. At one point a Miami police officer told him to stop before he explained who he was.
Police said they later found several of Moore’s cellphones on the grass beside his car and that one of them had a 14-second phone call between Moore and Gallon IV about a minute before the shooting. Though they had no way of knowing what was on the call, they believe that Moore called Gallon IV and said he was being followed and that Gallon was waiting for and shot the officer outside a home where Moore had stopped his car.
Police also found video surveillance footage of Gallon IV in an alley near the home after the shooting, holding what appears to be a gun. He was arrested at 4 a.m. the next morning when he walked outside of the home.
At one point Thursday during testy questioning, defense attorney Roderick Vereen asked Washington if he had a clear look at the man who shot him.
“I don’t know who shot at me,” Washington responded.
Washington also failed to explain how there was no blood on the chain holding his police badge, despite his neck area being covered in blood after he was shot.
“After I was shot, I took the badge off. I ordered Moore to the ground. I was bleeding a lot from my head,” said the officer. “I took off my shirt and badge and threw it into the vehicle then ran down the street.”
A trial date has not yet been set.
