MIAMI – Steve Gallon IV remained behind bars Friday, two days after he was accused of firing a gun and grazing an undercover Miami-Dade police narcotics detective with a bullet in Miami’s Buena Vista neighborhood.
His attorney appeared in bond court on his behalf, arguing that there was no probable cause for a charge of attempted second-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, because the officer was undercover at the time of the shooting.
“It (doesn’t) indicate anywhere...that he would have known he was law enforcement officer,” Rod Vereen, Gallon’s attorney, said in court. “It does not indicate that he was driving a marked unit. It does not indicate that he was wearing anything that would signify he was a police officer.”
Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer chose to defer her probable cause ruling until Friday afternoon.
In Friday afternoon bond court, Glazer determined the state did prove probable cause for the charge of attempted murder on a law enforcement officer and ordered that Gallon remain held without bond.
Police said Gallon shot the officer Wednesday afternoon after receiving a call from Atiba Moore, who had realized that an undercover officer was trailing his vehicle.
They said they were able to determine that from phone and cell tower records. But Vereen argues that those don’t prove anything.
“Cell site towers can only tell you a couple of things. Did his phone communicate with that phone? But it cannot tell you the contents of a content of a conversation,” Vereen said in a phone interview with Local 10 News.
He attempted to lose the officer, speeding several times around the block, they said, passing by a home several times.
They said Moore eventually slammed on the brakes. The officer crashed into the back of his vehicle.
As the officer got out of the car, Gallon fired the shot from behind, according to authorities.
Gallon, who police arrested the next morning, is the son of Steve Gallon III, a member of the Miami-Dade School Board.
The elder Gallon had no comment following his son’s arrest. Neither did the school board, which referred to the case as a private family matter.
Police also arrested Frederick Watkins, Kendrick Watkins and Andre Copeland. They’re accused of helping Gallon hide from police.
Vereen said he plans to ask for a bond hearing for Gallon.