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Congratulations to Officer Dashiell Garcia, recipient of the City of Coral Gables “Officer of the Month Award,” for the month of March 2021. |
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I respectfully nominate Officer Dashiell Garcia (ID #11047) for the Officer of the Month Award for March 2021...Body
On March 10, 2021 at approximately 0231 hours, CGPD Communications received a 911 call from the CVS store located at 1160 South Dixie Highway (US-1), Coral Gables, Florida about a theft in progress (27). A CVS employee stated three (3) white females stole wine and makeup, then fled in a gray hatchback bearing Florida tag LZBQ55. The 911 caller was still on the phone with the call taker as he watched the vehicle flee eastbound on US-1, then make a right-hand tum, heading southbound, possibly onto Augusto or Maynada Street. Both streets lead into residential neighborhoods.
Communications personnel announced a BOLO for the three female subjects and the vehicle over the police main radio channel to all on-duty officers. Officer Dashiell Garcia (ID #11047) was assigned by the dispatcher as the primary unit since the theft occurred in his assigned zone. However, he was responding from a distance since he had just finished conducting a Directed Patrol in the City's South District (Zone 11 Blitz).
Officer Garcia knew there was a very good chance of locating the subject vehicle due to the very short time delay from the when the theft occurred, and the BOLO being announced over the radio. Officer Garcia's intuition also told him that the subjects turned off US-1 to avoid detection and escape to the City of Miami by traversing eastbound through Coral Gables residential neighborhoods.
While responding to the call, Officer Garcia demonstrated good knowledge of surrounding jurisdictions geography by taking a shortcut through High Pines and heading North on Ponce De Leon Road (Miami-Dade County). As he approached the intersection of Maynada Street and Sunset Road, he demonstrated good judgement and decision making by heading northbound on Maynada Street, since the subject vehicle was last seen turning South in his direction. As Officer Garcia drove North on Maynada Street, he noticed vehicle headlights coming toward him from a distance. The vehicle then turned left onto Hardee Road heading eastbound. Officer Garcia accelerated his patrol vehicle to catch up with the vehicle on Hardee Road, and noticed that it matched the BOLO description provided by the dispatcher. He also noticed that it was occupied
by three white females and it had the same license tag number. Additionally, Officer Garcia noticed the tag had a more than six (6) 'month expired registration decal, a criminal traffic violation.
Officer Garcia conducted a traffic stop on the subject vehicle for the expired registration violation at the intersection of Hardee Road and Riviera Drive and waited for his backup, Officer Bryan Maizo to arrive.
I (Sergeant Paul Koppel) arrived on scene shortly thereafter and was very impressed as I observed Officer Garcia conduct a very professional and thorough traffic stop and subsequent criminal investigation. Officer Garcia removed all three subjects from the vehicle, then separated and temporarily detained them with Officer Bryan Maizo' s assistance, before beginning his investigation.
Officer Garcia demonstrated very good knowledge and utilization of available resources by delegating ancillary tasks such as obtaining victim/witness statements, conducting a show up, processing both crime scenes, impounding evidence and returning stolen property to the owner, CVS. Once Officer Garcia determined there was probable cause to make an arrest, he read Miranda warnings to each subject individually and attempted to obtain further incriminating statements and/or confessions from them. The Incident/Investigation Report that Officer Garcia submitted was also outstanding (Ref. CGPD Case #21001339). It was complete, detailed and well written, with no corrections needed upon my supervisory review.
I, Sergeant Koppel, have had the pleasure of being Officer Dashiell Garcia's direct supervisor since January 2021. In this short time, Officer Garcia has quickly demonstrated that he's a competent and professional law enforcement officer. He's also a team player who will gladly help his fellow officers without ever being asked to help.
For these reasons, I respectfully recommend that Officer Dashiell Garcia be considered for the prestigious Officer of the Month Award for March 2021.