Citizen Speed Cop: Woman Pulls Over South Florida Cop For Speeding [Videos]


A woman spotted a South Florida cop speeding down the Palmetto. She decided to follow the car and eventually managed to get the officer to pull over.

In a series of three videos uploaded to YouTube by user Claudia Castillo (included throughout this article), the woman, who turned out to be Castillo herself, can be heard speaking into her dashboard camera as she drives along the roadway.

In her travels, Castillo noticed a South Florida cop driving his police car and speeding excessively along the roadway.

She noticed the driver as she pulled on at Miller Drive at a time when the police car was first heading onto the Palmetto and eventually calculated that he must be driving at almost 90 miles an hour.

Castillo tried to flag down the Florida cop as she drove along, but while he saw her, he continued along the highway at speed.

In the first two videos, we see her trying in vain to catch up with the police officer, but he continues to, in her words, “drive recklessly” and at a high speed.

Castillo said on the video, “It’s just troublesome, you know, to see, I mean, I’m sure he’s a good guy, but you know, nobody’s above the law.”

Eventually, the woman does manage to get the Florida cop to pull over on the roadway and stop, and he walks up to her car and asks her if there is a problem. She explained the whole story to him as he put his head through her open car window.

“The reason I pulled you over today, and I’m asking you to come over and have a conversation, is because I saw you since Miller Drive, when you were first jumping onto the Palmetto, and you were pushing 90 miles an hour.”

The officer handled things in a reasonable and calm manner, responding, “Really? Okay.”

To which the Castillo responded, “Yes,” and continued by saying, “I just wanted to know: What’s the emergency?”

The Florida cop then admitted that he didn’t actually know how fast he was going, “But I can tell you this — I’m on the way to work right now. I don’t believe I was speeding, but like I said, you’re entitled to your opinion.”

The officer then went on to say he had pulled over because he believed she was dealing with an emergency, asking her, “Everything fine?”

Castillo then said that on her side everything was fine, but it was his speeding that concerned her.

“Well, then I apologize,” the Florida cop replied. “And I’ll be sure to slow down then.”

According to police director Juan Perez, speaking to CBS Miami, “The Miami-Dade Police Department will have the officer’s immediate command staff investigate the matter, once the officer and citizen are identified.”

Perez went on to say the appropriate course of action will be taken at that point.

Castillo spoke to CBS4’s Donna Rapado about the videos, saying the Florida cop drove past her so fast her car shook.

“And I got upset. I started speeding up and I stopped at 80.”

“He’s been driving recklessly,” Castillo added. “He was going about 100 miles-an-hour ’cause I was hitting 80 and I could not catch up to him.”

It seems the Florida cop involved in this story is not alone. According to a report in the Washington Post, a few years ago, the Sun-Sentinel, a newspaper based in South Florida, won a Pullitzer Prize for an investigation into speeding by off-duty officers on the roadways.

Reportedly, their investigation analyzed toll data, which determined that almost 800 police officers from several different South Florida departments and agencies were driving at excessive speeds, with some hitting as much as 130 mph.

Update: Miami-Dade Police Department identified the officer involved on Monday evening as being Daniel Fonticiella who works at PortMiami.

[Image via Flickr by Prayitno/CC BY 2.0]

Share this article: Citizen Speed Cop: Woman Pulls Over South Florida Cop For Speeding [Videos]
More from Inquisitr