WEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. – An arrest has been made in the crash that resulted in the death of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement officer.
Special Agent Jose Perez, 55, a retired assistant chief with the City of Miami Police, died from his injuries 18 days after being hit by the truck that investigators now say Ysmael Javier Sandoval was driving.
Miami-Dade Police said Sandoval, 35, of Miami, was driving under the influence of multiple substances on Tuesday, Aug. 2, when he crashed his 2017 Ford F-150 pickup truck into Perez’s unmarked FDLE vehicle, a 2015 Ford Taurus. A toxicology report of Sandoval’s blood showed that alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana were present.
Sandoval has a previous guilty DUI conviction from 2008, according to Miami-Dade Police.
The crash happened at 11:45 p.m. in West Miami-Dade as Perez was responding to an incident.
Perez was traveling northbound on NW 127 Avenue when Sandoval, driving the pickup truck, made a left turn at NW 7th terrace, failing to yield the right of way, and crashing into the car Perez was driving.
Perez suffered multiple injuries including a fractured sternum, collapsed lungs, a ruptured spleen, internal bleeding, and a brain bleed, and was transported to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital.
At the scene, police responding said that they noticed that Sandoval had signs of impairment, smelled of alcohol, and slurred speech, according to the report.
He was also transported to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital with injuries.