Raided!
In the early morning hours of a humid August night, along a dimly lit road, in Pompano’s drug corner, undercover officers of the Broward Sheriff’s Office infamous ‘Raiders’ purchased twenty dollars worth of cocaine. A takedown signal was given, the takedown unit rushed in from every crevice, tackled Leonarda S and charged him with delivery of cocaine, a fifteen year second degree felony.
Everything seemed straightforward and in the cops’ favor until I began my investigation and started peeling back the layers of the officers’ reports. I discovered that the marked and recorded $20 bill used to purchase the cocaine was not recovered from Leonarda, nor was there any other cocaine found on him. An additional discredit of the officers’ version surfaced when I learned that the supposed takedown did not go down as quickly as the officers reported, and that Leonarda was one of three people whom the police arrested and charged for the same offense. Each of these three people were as far as 70 yards away from each other when arrested. None of the people arrested resembled each other, and the cops had beat and tased one person when he continually declared his innocence. The person whom the cops beat and tased was a homeowner, just returning from work, who had pulled into his driveway in front of his garage.
Further, the area, where the cops said the drug deal took place, was under surveillance by a community food store video camera. I discovered, from speaking with the store owner, that the officers never attempted to obtain any video evidence to support their claim. The abused neighbor testified in support of Leonarda, and the jury declared him Not Guilty in light of the lack of evidence.
