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Congratulations to Officer Casey Rivera, recipient of the City of Coral Gables “Officer of the Month,” for May 2024.
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On May 19, 2024, at approximately 1949 hours, CGPD units were dispatched to a juvenile disturbance in which the caller was on her balcony (located at 1 Alhambra Cir) when she witnessed a group of juveniles forcibly push a juvenile to the ground, stealing his bicycle. As this occurred, the caller stated she witnessed the juvenile (who she described to be approximately 10 years of old) scream for help as the juveniles fled the scene traveling westbound towards Madeira Av.
Officer C. Rivera (11551) was not initially dispatched to this call for service; however, she immediately attached herself to the call and began to canvass the area for the juveniles. As CGPD units were beginning to clear the call, I observed Officer Rivera flash her overhead emergency lights and enter the Publix parking lot, located at 1500 Douglas. I immediately began to follow her as she entered the parking lot through Menores Av, before exiting traveling westbound on SW 16 St. At this point, Officer Rivera and I began utilizing our overhead emergency lights and sirens requesting for a group of juveniles on bicycles to stop. One of the juveniles (Juvenile 1), who was riding a bicycle, while also wheeling one along next to him began to flee and made a left turn onto SW 36 Av. Prior to arriving to the intersection of SW 36 Av and 14 St, the juvenile dumped the spare bicycle and continued to flee. Shortly thereafter, Juvenile 1 came to a stop at the 3400 block of SW 14 St.
As Juvenile 1 complied with our commands to stop, he was detained pending investigation. Officer Rivera immediately began to take control of the scene. She requested for a unit to recover the bicycle that was dumped by Juvenile 1 and bring it back to the scene and for a unit to make contact with the caller to figure out exactly what she witnessed.
While on scene, a group of juveniles responded to our location. One of the juveniles (Victim) stated the bicycle Juvenile 1 fled from us on was his bicycle and he was attacked by a different juvenile (not on scene at this point/later identified as Juvenile 2). Victim advised that during this incident, his bicycle was stolen by Juvenile 1, who fled the scene riding Victim's bicycle and wheeling his own bicycle next to him. On scene, Victim provided multiple identifying photos of his bicycle and the receipt of purchase.
Although this bicycle was never entered into FCIC/NCIC as stolen due to the time frame, the bicycle was recovered on scene from Juvenile l's possession.
As Officer Deleon met with the caller to clarify what had occurred, new information revealed that she was also out with Juvenile 2 (the second subject). Officer Deleon subsequently responded to the scene with Juvenile 2 pending further investigation.
The investigation revealed the incident occurred at 1601 SW 37 Av (Marathon/City of Miami jurisdiction); however, due to the caller's view from her balcony and the direction of travel of the juveniles, it was initially believed the incident took place within the jurisdictional boundaries of Coral Gables.
Officer Rivera's actions on this date led to the arrest of two juveniles who took advantage of another. Officer Rivera delegated tasks on scene and was successful in having the investigation complete for the City of Miami detectives who responded and completed the arrests (See case 24-003538). Although it did not happen in the city, it very well could have should the juveniles had simply crossed the street onto Coral Gables jurisdiction.
Additionally, I have witnessed Officer Rivera selflessly go the extra mile countless times for not only the citizens of Coral Gables, but for her peers at CGPD. She truly is an asset to CGPD and anyone who works with her can attest to how lucky they are to have her as a partner on the road.
For these reasons, I am nominating Officer Rivera for the May 2024 Officer of the Month Award, as I wholeheartedly believe she deserves it.