Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome back to
another episode of the Cape Cop
cast chiefs chat edition.
I'm one of your hosts, lisaGreenberg and I'm officer
Mercedes Simons.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Together we make up
the public affairs office.
Today.
We're right before Christmasbreak, but we've also had a
really busy week.
We need to talk about and wrapsome things up.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Yeah, so let's go
ahead and bring in our special
guest, our weekly guest.
Now I feel, like you shouldjust be called one of the hosts
at this point.
Well, I'm not special anymore,You're always special chief.
We appreciate you coming andmaking the time to do this with
us.
Every week we did have a busyweek.
You wouldn't even know it's aholiday week, with all the
things that we've been goingthrough here and all the things
that we have going on.
(00:40):
I think we should start maybeby talking about kind of the
things that happened andunfolded over the weekend.
We had a shooting.
That's getting a lot ofattention.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Had a shooting at a
nightclub on Del Prado North
called Fuego's Lounge andthere's some viral video that's
been put out, some surveillancevideo or cell phone.
I'm not really sure where thesource of the video is, but you
can see several gunshotsobviously what you don't want to
have in any environment,especially here in the Cape.
(01:11):
But we have witnesses, plenty ofwitnesses, cooperating with us.
Our detectives were able toquickly get that intel, turn it
into tangible evidence to goafter somebody, and a shooter
has been arrested.
So our detectives were able toput the case together very
quickly.
We have an officer, a detectiveof ours, that's assigned to the
(01:33):
US Marshal Task Force andthat's what they do.
They take probable cause,affidavits or warrants and they
go get dangerous and or armedindividuals, and that's what
happened.
So kudos to our major crimesdetectives for a very quick
arrest in this case, and ourpartnership with the US Marshals
was paid dividends because theyadopted the case.
(01:54):
We're able to find our shooterand he's in custody already.
The investigation is stillongoing.
There's a lot of wrap up and alot of other stuff to do, but
that's just a good point for thecommunity that they can breathe
a little bit easier in thatparticular case.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Absolutely, and I
know we'll look forward to being
able to release moreinformation on that.
But with the investigationongoing it kind of hinders us
from being able to release toomany details.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Right, I'd love to
tell the whole story.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
And we will at some
point.
It's a great story to tell Gofrom A to B on a crime and then
having somebody in custody soquickly.
There's a lot of goodinformation there but we can't
discuss it because there's otherpeople we're trying to talk to
and then you have to have a casepreserved for the state to
prosecute.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
What would you say?
That we use the Marshall TaskForce for the most?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Exactly what you just
saw.
Very rarely do they cultivate acriminal investigation start to
finish and they have a criteriathat they have to meet before
they'll adopt a case is whatit's called.
But what you just saw in theFuego's case is exactly it.
The CCPD worked it.
We met with the victims, gotthe evidence developed, probable
(03:04):
cause, had everything we needto put the individual into
custody or under arrest andbecause there was a obviously a
violent crime, multiple shotsfired, there's a heightened
safety level.
And then they're absolute totalprofessionals at finding
dangerous people and puttingthem into custody or taking them
into custody, and it's membersof the US Marshals full-time.
(03:28):
And then there's Lee CountySheriff, fort Myers PD, cape
Coral PD, that supplement in thetask force and they're called
TFOs or task force officers.
We have representation in thatand it's very helpful when
you're able to supply because ifyou have skin in the game,
they're going to adopt yourcases and go get your bad guys.
And that's exactly whathappened here.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Absolutely.
It's very interesting and Iknow a lot of the times when I
was answering the mediaquestions about this.
They were like so the taskforce got them and I had to kind
of explain what you just said,right.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
So we supply a
detective that when FMPD or LCSO
has somebody that they'relooking for and the marshals
adopt the case to for lack of abetter word go get them.
We help them do that, and whenwe need help, they all rally and
help us.
So it's partnership in itspurest form.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
One other case too
that we talked about a lot over
the week and that kind ofstarted unfolding over the
weekend and has developed thelast few days, is we had a
stabbing that happened over theweekend and I know a lot of
people were like, geez, this wasa busy weekend, we had so many
things going on what the heck isgoing on here in the Cape?
But this one kind of turned outto be An interesting situation.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
It did Another
violent crime.
When it's just a headline, it'svery unnerving.
Still a sad story.
Of course, but for the communityat large.
It's not something that youneed to be mindful of an unknown
suspect running around stabbingpeople.
This was a tragic case ofdomestic violence or household
violence that had reallyescalated to that level had
(05:05):
really escalated to that level.
But our investigation isrevealing that this stabbing is
looking more towardsself-defense because of the
circumstances surrounding thedomestic violence, or DV
incident, we call it.
So the DV incident rate risesto the level of defending
yourself and that was the methodthat was used and preliminarily
it's looking like that's thecase.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
You know, I think
it's always a sigh of relief for
the community when we do learnthat this isn't some sort of
random act of violence.
This isn't something that youneed to be making sure you lock
your doors five extra timesbefore you go to sleep at night.
This was a kind of containeddomestic type of situation
Correct.
One other thing, too, is I feellike I'd be remissed if we
didn't mention that there wasobviously a tragedy that
(05:47):
happened within our SouthwestFlorida community over the last
few days and we are, to betransparent, recording this on a
Thursday because tomorrow isgoing to be an extremely busy
day.
We have the funeral forSergeant Elio Diaz, who was shot
and killed in the line of duty.
He works for the CharlotteCounty Sheriff's Office.
It's just an awful situation.
I know that everyone herewithin our department has really
(06:08):
been feeling that.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Absolutely.
Yeah, we typically shoot theseon Friday to give a complete
wrap for the week, but obviouslytomorrow, being Friday, is
going to be an all-day affairfor the memorial service and the
funeral rites for Sergeant Diaz.
And it has hit home for thecommunity at large, all of
Southwest Florida, obviouslyCharlotte County.
Our department has manyofficers who knew Elio Diaz from
(06:32):
the academy, going back over 10years to working various events
with him.
So he touched a lot of peoplein not only Charlotte County but
even here in Lee County in lawenforcement, where he was just a
gregarious, dynamic personalitythat loved the job, loved the
culture and a lot of peopleloved him.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
It's just so sad and
I know, obviously, with our
involvement, we're sending ourhonor guard and there's going to
be a bunch of, like you said,people who knew him well that
are going to be heading there,even people who didn't know him
personally, who are just feelingaffected by this.
But I can't imagine all thatgoes into preparing for a
funeral like this within yourown department and everything
(07:12):
that the Charlotte CountySheriff's Office might be
dealing with right now.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yes, it is a very
tall task.
It sounds like it could beoverwhelming because there's so
many things that have to be done.
So I'll look at it from a chiefor sheriff's perspective and,
knock on wood, we have not hadan officer killed in the line of
duty.
We've had an officer shot,severely wounded.
(07:36):
It was pretty touch and go, butI have been around Fort Myers
Police Department.
Sadly, the Charlotte CountySheriff's Office has had to go
through this before Lee Countyas well.
And what you do from a CEO'sperspective is you have there's
so many components.
The primary component fortomorrow is the ceremonial
(07:56):
aspect.
So you have people in placethat have been to school on how
to do funerals and ceremonies.
You have professional honorguard that train regionally.
All of the other honor guardsare going to go in support of
them.
Ours is no exception.
You have motor units that aregoing to be part of leading and
(08:18):
coordinating the procession.
There's going to be lawenforcement officers from all
over the state, all over thecountry, that are going to come,
as well as a huge contingent ofthe Southwest Florida public
are going to come out.
Many will come to the service.
The roads will be lined.
It is a massive job on theceremonial front.
What goes into that is meetingwith his family to find out were
(08:40):
there any particular wishesthat he wanted Very delicate but
very necessary because you haveto get those lined up.
So I have members of thedepartment who have been to
school, who have worked withothers, and you can't be too
proud or too afraid to ask forhelp.
The Charlotte County Sheriff'sOffice, fort Myers, they've been
(09:02):
through this and they haveindividuals on staff that are
emotionally affected, but notdirectly emotionally affected
like the host agency.
So I would reach out to mypartners and say can you come
over help my team who areemotionally distraught and may
not have that experience to dothat?
(09:22):
That's one component.
But then you have an entirecity or county that has 24-7,
365 full service law enforcement, that things are still
happening.
So you have to answer 911 calls, you have to respond, you have
to continue to investigate andfollow up on your other cases.
It's a full-time job thatdoesn't stop Now.
(09:44):
You're going to have helpduring the service, right?
So either the Lee County orSarasota or Northport or
different departments are goingto come in and run calls for
service, answer 911 calls sothat as many people from the
host agency can go to theservice, but that's a small
window.
(10:04):
You're back to it, so that's aresponsibility.
So you have the ceremonial, youhave the everyday, that does
not stop.
And then, in the case ofSergeant Diaz, there are two
distinct scenes and one of thetwo has an additional component.
We won't get too into the weedson it, but you have the tragic
(10:26):
murder of Sergeant Diaz.
That's a scene that has to beinvestigated because you know
it's an officer in the line ofduty, death, but it's still a
homicide that has to beinvestigated.
Then you have the second scenewhere the shooter went to a
different location and then thedeputies went there and then
(10:46):
they had an encounter and that'sa lethal force investigation.
And there's also layered on topof that the administrative part
to ensure that where policiesfollowed, where your training
protocols followed that's anadministrative layer the state
attorney's office will work onthe shooting side, the death
(11:08):
investigation side, to make surewas it a justifiable use of
deadly force?
So you have two scenes, threevery distinct cases.
Then in this lane, 24-7 fullservice plus corrections,
because they're a sheriff'soffice as well, and then you
have a ceremonial component thathas zero room for error,
(11:28):
because you have to provide thedignity and respect for the
profession, for the family andultimately for Sergeant Diaz.
So Sheriff Promell has a lot onhis plate right now.
He's experienced, he's beenthrough it and he has a network
within the Florida Sheriff'sAssociation, within the Florida
Police Chiefs Association andlocally to provide that support
(11:51):
honor guard, traffic support andjust emotional support to show
up for your brother and sisterofficer.
So it's a big deal.
It's going to be a big dealtomorrow.
I'm honored to go to pay myrespects and to collectively
grieve with the law enforcementcommunity.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
It's a lot.
It's a lot for Charlotte County, especially since they pretty
much just went through somethingsimilar with the death of
Deputy Taylor not too long ago.
It feels like, so we'redefinitely sending all of our
thoughts and prayers andeverything we can to them.
I can't even imagine whatthat's been like for them, and
we're with you 100%.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
It's never easy
dealing with it, even from an
outside perspective, let alonean inside perspective.
So that's why we're so happy tobe a part of the assisting
agency, and even just themotorcade of helping with the
processional and things likethat is just to let them know
we're there for them, and we'veseen a lot of support from the
community as well.
Just because you might not knowsomeone personally doesn't mean
(12:53):
that they didn't still have animpact on your life, and I think
we can all say that he did.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Absolutely,
absolutely so, telling that our
community is really impacted byit and it's because of that
regional partnership that wehave with the citizens and the
visitors and business owners andeverybody that calls this part
of the world home has such ahigh degree of respect for the
police and it's mutual Also,we're thinking of his family too
(13:21):
.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
I can't even imagine
what his wife and children are
going through, and it's just sosad.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Well said.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Well, we will, of
course, be at that.
And to everyone who's listeningright now, please be safe over
the weekend.
Drive safely.
Remember to lock your car doorsas well.
I feel like we can always throwthat one in there, and until
then, we are going to take nextweek off because of the holiday,
but we will be back the weekafter that.
So, chief, we will see you then, see you in 2025.
(13:47):
Thanks for joining us.
Have a good one.