MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Cleanup continued at the home of former Miami-Dade Police Department Lt. Evelyn Fernandez, after authorities cut through a roof of a home she barricaded herself in order to take her into custody Friday after an hours-long standoff.
That left the southwest Miami-Dade home seriously damaged.
Fernandez is accused of trying to shoot her ex-boyfriend before going to her home on Southwest 142nd Place, near 173rd Street, where police say she barricaded herself inside the attic and wouldn’t come outside.
Retired Miami police Chief Jorge Colina said in a situation like that one, first responders’ main focus is the safety of the people in the area, the officers and the person they’re trying to take into custody.
That’s why he said he believes MDPD made the decision to cut through the roof to pull her out, even though their tactics caused major damage to the home.
“I suspect that’s what the thought process was, because it is extremely dangerous to go up through an attic hatch when the person in the attic knows you’re coming,” Colina said. “This is someone who already shot at someone, has threatened peoples’ lives.”
Police said taxpayers are likely to pay for repairs, assuming the homeowner files a claim with the county’s risk management division.
Authorities ultimately arrested Fernandez on multiple charges, including attempted murder.