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Man who impersonated a police officer sentenced to six months in Collier jail
By AISLING SWIFT
Friday, October 19, 2007
Gustavo Guirola Quintero probably thought he was being a good citizen when he urged motorists to slow down on Interstate 75 a few months ago.
The trouble was, the Broward County man was wearing his security officer’s uniform and driving a Crown Victoria, a popular police car that featured a Miami-Dade Metro Police Department Shield, was marked “Miami Patrol” and had flashing overhead lights.
And one of the motorists he pulled over to lecture shortly before midnight on June 15 turned out to be a military police officer — who reported him.
On Friday, Collier Circuit Judge Elizabeth Krier sentenced the 47-year-old Guirola of Pembroke Pines to six months in Collier County jail and gave him credit for time served since he was booked in the early morning hours of June 16.
The crime? Falsely impersonating a police officer.
Guirola pleaded no contest to the third-degree felony and Krier adjudicated him guilty. He’d faced up to five years in a state prison, but he had no criminal record and was sentenced as part of a plea agreement negotiated by Assistant State Attorney Dave Scuderi and Assistant Public Defender Giovanna Upson.
Upson told Krier that Guirola was employed as a security officer in Miami-Dade County.
“The allegation was he was pulling over people for speeding and lecturing them,” Upson said, adding that one turned out to be an officer. “There was a concern that he was trying to pass as someone with authority.”
A jail booking report by Collier County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Sang Kim gave this account:
The Florida Highway Patrol alerted deputies at 11:42 p.m. on June 15 that a white police-style Crown Victoria with amber lights was stopping vehicles on I-75 at the 74-mile marker on Alligator Alley.
Deputies were urged to be on the lookout for the car, which Cpl. Todd Epright spotted at the 92 mile marker, six miles east of the toll booth. It was driving 80 mph in a 70 mph zone and following too closely behind another vehicle. Epright activated his emergency lights and stopped the car.
Kim then pulled over and interviewed Sgt. Thomas Fiore of the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, who told him that Guirola drove behind him, activated his car’s overhead lights, then the takedown lights at the front of the vehicle. Then the car swerved next to Fiore’s passenger side and an officer gestured for him to stop.
Unaware how Collier County deputies conducted traffic stops, Fiore, who works in Miami, complied. But then he turned the tables on Guirola, informing him he was a police officer and asking for his identification. Guirola responded in Spanish.
When Fiore realized Guirola wasn’t a law enforcement officer, he returned to his car and called the FHP — telling troopers he’d also watched Guirola pull over another vehicle.
Kim arrested Guirola and searched his car, where he found a silver simulated air pistol in the glove compartment, a life jacket marked “Florida Sheriff’s Association, Z.P. Oliveira” in the car’s trunk, along with a police tactical vest and camouflage trousers.Guirola was taken to a sheriff’s substation, where a deputy called his employer, who told him the car was prohibited from leaving Hialeah and not allowed to have light bars.
Guirola was booked into the jail.
On Friday, the prosecutor didn’t think Guirola was a do-gooder. Scuderi noted: “Most do-gooders don’t break the law.”
By AISLING SWIFT
Friday, October 19, 2007
Gustavo Guirola Quintero probably thought he was being a good citizen when he urged motorists to slow down on Interstate 75 a few months ago.
The trouble was, the Broward County man was wearing his security officer’s uniform and driving a Crown Victoria, a popular police car that featured a Miami-Dade Metro Police Department Shield, was marked “Miami Patrol” and had flashing overhead lights.
And one of the motorists he pulled over to lecture shortly before midnight on June 15 turned out to be a military police officer — who reported him.
On Friday, Collier Circuit Judge Elizabeth Krier sentenced the 47-year-old Guirola of Pembroke Pines to six months in Collier County jail and gave him credit for time served since he was booked in the early morning hours of June 16.
The crime? Falsely impersonating a police officer.
Guirola pleaded no contest to the third-degree felony and Krier adjudicated him guilty. He’d faced up to five years in a state prison, but he had no criminal record and was sentenced as part of a plea agreement negotiated by Assistant State Attorney Dave Scuderi and Assistant Public Defender Giovanna Upson.
Upson told Krier that Guirola was employed as a security officer in Miami-Dade County.
“The allegation was he was pulling over people for speeding and lecturing them,” Upson said, adding that one turned out to be an officer. “There was a concern that he was trying to pass as someone with authority.”
A jail booking report by Collier County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Sang Kim gave this account:
The Florida Highway Patrol alerted deputies at 11:42 p.m. on June 15 that a white police-style Crown Victoria with amber lights was stopping vehicles on I-75 at the 74-mile marker on Alligator Alley.
Deputies were urged to be on the lookout for the car, which Cpl. Todd Epright spotted at the 92 mile marker, six miles east of the toll booth. It was driving 80 mph in a 70 mph zone and following too closely behind another vehicle. Epright activated his emergency lights and stopped the car.
Kim then pulled over and interviewed Sgt. Thomas Fiore of the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, who told him that Guirola drove behind him, activated his car’s overhead lights, then the takedown lights at the front of the vehicle. Then the car swerved next to Fiore’s passenger side and an officer gestured for him to stop.
Unaware how Collier County deputies conducted traffic stops, Fiore, who works in Miami, complied. But then he turned the tables on Guirola, informing him he was a police officer and asking for his identification. Guirola responded in Spanish.
When Fiore realized Guirola wasn’t a law enforcement officer, he returned to his car and called the FHP — telling troopers he’d also watched Guirola pull over another vehicle.
Kim arrested Guirola and searched his car, where he found a silver simulated air pistol in the glove compartment, a life jacket marked “Florida Sheriff’s Association, Z.P. Oliveira” in the car’s trunk, along with a police tactical vest and camouflage trousers.Guirola was taken to a sheriff’s substation, where a deputy called his employer, who told him the car was prohibited from leaving Hialeah and not allowed to have light bars.
Guirola was booked into the jail.
On Friday, the prosecutor didn’t think Guirola was a do-gooder. Scuderi noted: “Most do-gooders don’t break the law.”
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