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Congratulations to Officer Eduardo Orbe, recipient of the City of Coral Gables “Officer of the Month Award,” for the month of September 2020.
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Action/Recommendation:
I nominate Officer Eduardo Orbe to receive the Officer of the Month Award for the month of September, for his courage and outstanding job performed on September 15, 2020, case #20- 004799.
Background:
On Tuesday, September 15, 2020, CGPD units were dispatched to 2525 Ponce De Leon Blvd to investigate a call of a suspicious male inside an office building. The caller advised that the suspicious male was suspected of a theft that occurred on the building two to three weeks ago. Units were informed that the suspicious male was last seen traveling southbound on Ponce de Leon Blvd on a bicycle.
Several units responded to the scene and attempted to locate the suspicious male. One of the units that responded was Officer Orbe from the Bike Patrol Unit. Once arrival, Officer Orbe was notified by a witness that the suspicious male had entered the building at 2701 Ponce de Leon Blvd. Officer Orbe observed a bicycle in the alley behind the building and waited for the suspicious male to return. Moments later, the suspicious male returned to his bicycle and Officer Orbe confronted Mr. Richard Jones (a known burglary and theft offender). During this encounter, Mr. Jones was uncooperative and disregarded Officer Orbe's command to not place his hands inside his pockets. A brief struggle ensued, and Mr. Jones was taken into custody with the assistance of Sgt. G. Antezana. During this encounter a punch dagger knife was recovered next to Mr. Jones. Further investigation revealed that this extremely dangerous knife had fallen out from Mr. Jones pocket during the confrontation. Investigation confirmed that Mr. Jones stole a computer from the office two weeks ago. Mr. Jones was also suspected and arrested for the attempted murder, burglary with a battery and grand theft (CGPD case 20-004590), occupied burglary, battery on the elderly, theft of credit cards (CGPD case 20-003970), 2 burglaries in South Miami (SMPD cases 20-001153 and 20-001 172), another burglary in the City of Miami (Miami PD case 200901-0049226), and multiple violation of probations for robbery and multiple burglaries.
Synopsis/Conclusion:
As a result of Officer Orbe's great investigation, observation, courage, self-driven determination, police training and tactics, he was able to safely apprehend this progressively violent criminal without any injuries to himself or others. Officer Orbe showed great diligence in tracking down and arresting this career felon without further incident. Furthermore, multiple cases were cleared countywide. Therefore, I am recommending that Officer Orbe be recognized for his extraordinary efforts via the Officer of the Month Award.