SWEETWATER, Fla. – A police officer from Sweetwater was arrested Monday after he falsified an official statement about a traffic accident he was involved in last year, authorities said.
According to an arrest warrant, Alejandro Ramos was involved in a car accident Feb. 17, 2015, while he was off-duty, but in his Sweetwater-marked police vehicle.
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The crash was reported at the intersection of Southwest 107th Avenue and West Flagler Street.
According to the warrant, Ramos was responding to a call for an officer needing assistance at a nearby Wells Fargo Bank. He told Florida Highway Patrol troopers that he was following a marked SUV and he activated his lights and siren and looked both ways before crossing the red-light intersection.
Authorities said Ramos claimed that a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck "came out of nowhere" and struck his car.
Troopers initially gave the other driver the ticket, because Ramos claimed to have "cleared the intersection" and "proceeded with caution."
However, a red light camera is located at the intersection and captured Ramos failing to stop at the red light, the warrant said.
Authorities said the first police officer in the SUV did stop at the intersection, but Ramos, who was following at a distance, never stopped or slowed down before crossing the intersection.
He was arrested Monday on a charge of official misconduct by a public servant. He has since bonded out of jail.
Ramos' status with the Sweetwater Police Department in unclear.
He has been a police officer for six years and has been a detective in the Internal Affairs/Criminal Investigation Section for about a year.