Fort Lauderdale police officers stopped Broward Deputy Rodrigo Mello’s patrol car believing the driver, who was in civilian clothes, may have stolen the cop car after several 911 calls were made about the strange behavior of the car’s occupants
Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Rodrigo Mello was fired last January after the off-duty deputy was caught driving a couple of his drunk friends around in his patrol car in Fort Lauderdale on August 11, 2013 between 2 and 3 a.m. His drunken buddy was using the patrol car’s loudspeaker to make untoward remarks to bystanders, including cat calls to women about their private parts.
Several people called 9-1-1 to report what was going on. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the first caller reported, "They're saying extremely lewd and really stupid things over the P.A." Another caller said, "Apparently there are some kids with dad's off-duty car. They're saying rude comments and driving around. ... I don't think sheriffs would act like that."
When a couple of Fort Lauderdale cops spotted Mello’s patrol car being driven by someone in civilian clothing, they stopped it, believing it may have been stolen. Mello immediately identified himself as a Broward County deputy. He was not intoxicated, but his buddy was obviously drunk and a woman was passed out in the back seat. A sheriff’s captain was called to the scene. He took the patrol car. Mello was sent home. He was fired five months later.
The 10 year veteran is appealing his firing and has asked for an arbitration hearing. Jeff Marano, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said, "It's not a career-ender. Did he do something silly? Yeah, but you don't execute a person for that."
I’ve got news for Mr. Marano. If what Mello did is not a firing offense, nothing is!
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