Miami-Dade police officer accused of stealing jewelry during DEA sting

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A Miami-Dade police officer is facing multiple charges after allegedly stealing several pieces of jewelry from a home while helping the DEA execute a search warrant last month.

Detective Karel Rosario, a nine-year-veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department, was charged Tuesday with dealing in stolen property and grand theft.

"Good police work always depends on an officer's honesty and integrity. Honesty and integrity are the core values of every effective police agency," said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "Detective Rosario's stealing makes him no different than the thieves he would apprehend. This is a sad day for the law enforcement community."

According to the state attorney's office, Rosario stole a Cartier watch containing a custom diamond bezel, a gold bracelet with diamonds, a Cartier-style "Nail" bracelet, a Rolex Daytona watch, a Bulgari ring, a Bulgari bracelet, a David Yurman bracelet and several expensive bottles of perfume from the home of Yulia Martinez.

Martinez was arrested May 20, along with four others, for her alleged involvement in a crime ring that earned about $6.5 million while dealing pharmaceutical drugs in Miami-Dade County.

Police said the suspects were buying drugs from patients and reselling them to manufacturers.

After bonding out of jail, Martinez told authorities that she realized the items were missing from her home, and no receipts were left at the residence specifying items that were seized, as is proper police protocol.

According to an SAO report, surveillance video showed Rosario meeting with a jeweler, identified as Joel Hernandez, at the Seybold Jewelry Building in downtown Miami on May 27, and trying to sell him the Cartier watch and bracelet.

Hernandez told Rosario he wasn't interested, but would post photos of the watch on the social media site, WhatsApp so that other jewelers could respond if interested.

The jeweler told authorities that he was contacted by another jeweler, identified as Joel Vigo, who claimed that the watch was purchased from him by Martinez's husband.

"Our integrity is fundamental to the Miami-Dade Police Department maintaining the trust of the community we protect and serve," said Miami-Dade Police Director J.D. Patterson.  "That integrity, and the need to maintain the absolute trust of the community, requires that whenever one of our officers breaks the law, we hold that officer accountable."

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