TAMPA, Fla. – More details surfaced on Wednesday about how Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III ended up hospitalized on July 23 in Hillsborough County after he traveled there for a Florida Sheriff’s Association conference.
Tampa Police Department officers met Ramirez, 52, and his wife, Jody Ramirez, that Sunday on the 12th floor of the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street.
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TPD Officer Clayton Stewart reported hotel security asked for help at about 6:30 p.m. after two men who identified as members of law enforcement said a witness reported seeing Ramirez threatening to kill himself.
“An unknown citizen told them Mr. Ramirez put the gun in his mouth,” Officer Jerry D. Wyche wrote in his supplemental report, adding Ramirez allegedly said, “I am going to end it all today!”
POLICE RESPONSE
Police officers lined up outside of hotel room 1271, ordered the Ramirez’s to walk out, and detained them, according to the TPD reports citing the existence of police body cameras and hotel surveillance videos.
“A verbal argument could be heard in the hallway,” Stewart wrote.
The police officers who responded reported Ramirez, who was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans, “reluctantly” walked out of the room and “did not obey” commands to put his hands up in the air at first.
“I detained the subject via applying handcuffs to the rear,” Officer Maurece Parrish wrote in his report, referring to “Freddy” Ramirez.
Initially, Jody Ramirez said she did not know if her husband had pulled a firearm out, but later she changed her statement and said he never pulled out a firearm, according to Stewart.
“He has plenty of demons from the job, as you guys all are probably aware of. I know every button to push and I’m pushing them today because I normally don’t drink. He got me an Old Fashioned, it’s his fault,” Jody Ramirez told Tampa police officers, according to an incident report.
Jody Ramirez had “glossy eyes” and said the argument was about “stuff going on” and personal issues, according to police reports.
DECISION TO RELEASE
“Nothing is going on, I promise you ... He always has a firearm on him, he’s not making any threats, I promise you ... My husband is fine. He is just mad at me right now,” Jody Ramirez told police officers, according to the report.
The group of police officers reported finding Ramirez’s gun inside room 1271.
“I observed what appeared to be a holstered pistol below a chair on the east side of the room,” Officer Aaron Hothem wrote in his supplemental report.
Police officers reported reviewing the hotel’s surveillance video and after not finding evidence to support the “third-hand” report they decided that Ramirez “did not meet Baker Act criteria” to require a mental health assessment, and released him, according to the report.
“I asked the subject if he wanted to harm himself or others and he advised he did not. I further asked the subject if he had any suicidal thoughts, and he advised he did not,” Officer Jergens Pierre reported, referring to “Freddy” Ramirez.
Pierre reported that “Freddy” Ramirez asked him if they were going to write an incident report and when he responded in the affirmative explaining the need to document the use of force, Ramirez said he “understood,” and shook his hand goodbye.
A TRAGEDY UNFOLDS
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava later said during a news conference that Ramirez called her after police officers detained him in Tampa.
“Freddy told me he had made a mistake, that he was prepared to resign,” Levine Cava said. “He was very remorseful and I reassured him we would talk the following morning.”
A shooting followed. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies found a distraught Jody Ramirez with Freddy Ramirez injured, and a parked Ford Expedition shortly after 9:15 p.m., along the southbound lanes of Interstate 75.
Jody Ramirez had called 911 for help, Hillsborough dispatch records show. They were near mile marker 244.
“He just went out into traffic,” she told dispatch during the 911 call.
Ramirez was wounded, so dispatch told her to “lay him flat on his back and remove anything from behind his head” and “get a clean dry cloth or towel or T-shirt or something” to place it on the wound “to try to control the bleeding.”
“He’s not letting me,” she said during the 911 call.
Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, Hillsborough deputies, and Florida Highway Patrol troopers responded to the shooting on I-75. During a news conference, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass confirmed “Freddy” Ramirez had suffered a head injury and his condition was stable.
A MYSTERY
Investigators with The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office, and the Tampa Police Department were investigating the incidents.
It’s unclear why the Ramirez’s were having an argument. The high school sweethearts wed in 1995 and had four children. Their eldest son, Brandon Ramirez, serves as a Miami-Dade sergeant.
The TPD reports did not identify the two men who alerted hotel security about “Freddy” Ramirez.
“The two males who were identified as deputies by staff were white males,” Officer Kelly Thomas, who reviewed hotel surveillance, reported. “The taller male was wearing a white long-sleeve shirt and black pants and the other male was wearing a light blue polo shirt and darker blue shorts. I could not discern any insignia which would have identified them as law enforcement.”
In May, Ramirez, a 27-year MDPD veteran, announced that he was running for sheriff in 2024.
Levine Cava’s predecessor had appointed the University of Miami graduate whose law enforcement service included patrolling Cutler Ridge and The Hammocks districts to succeed Juan J. Perez on Jan. 13, 2020.
Last year, Levine Cava announced an expanded role for him as the chief of safety and emergency response to oversee both MDPD and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
After the “critical injury,” Miami-Dade County placed him on “a sick injured leave” and Levine Cava appointed Stephanie V. Daniels, a deputy director, as MDPD interim director on July 24.
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Freddy Ramirez Incident Report Redacted by Andrea Torres on Scribd
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