NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – City officials are not quite ready to give a North Miami police commander the all-clear for his involvement in a police-involved shooting, despite prosecutors saying that they would not file charges against him.
North Miami officials said Cmdr. Emile Hollant was suspended without pay last month after the controversial shooting of Charles Kinsey, a behavioral therapist who was walking with an autistic client.
"Do you think Emile Hollant deserves an apology from the city?" Local 10 News reporter Derek Shore asked North Miami council member Scott Galvin.
"Not yet," he said.
Galvin said the North Miami Police Department is still conducting an internal review into the shooting of Kinsey by Officer Jonathon Aledda and whether Hollant lied to detectives about circumstances surrounding the incident. Galvin said he expects the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation will address everything.
Hollant has maintained his innocent after being accused publicly by North Miami city officials about giving conflicting statements about the shooting.
The Miami-Dade County state attorney's office said the issue was simply a miscommunication, and that Hollant did not lie when he said he didn't see what happened because he was on his way to get binoculars.
File: Close-out memo for North Miami police Cmdr. Emile Hollant
"Why was he earlier on tape saying, 'He's loading his weapon. He's loading his weapon,'" Galvin said. "Wouldn't you go get the binoculars before you make that statement?"
The Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association president told Local 10 News that the city jumped to conclusions.
"To make those kinds of jumps to judgment is really a disservice to everybody," John Rivera said.
Hollant remains on leave without pay, while Aledda was placed on administrative leave with pay as is standard in a police-involved shooting.
"To me, the only people that I know deserve an apology is Mr. Kinsey and Mr. (Arnaldo Rios) Soto," Galvin said.