Watch CBS News

Miami Police Officer Facing New Charges

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Miami-Dade Police Officer arrested for lying to his own department is, once again, in trouble with the law.

Joshua Zacarias went before a judge Monday. He is charged with 50 counts of aggravated stalking his former girlfriend.

Zacarias was ordered to stay away from her. According to the police report, the ex-girlfriend had filed a restraining order against him. Police say he violated that order when he allegedly sent her 49 e-mail messages and left a 7-page letter at her house dated April 26 and April 29th.

He is being held on $125,000 bond.

Earlier this year, Zacarias was arrested and charged with falsely claiming his patrol car was vandalized.

According to investigators, Zacarias struck a chain-link gate at his district station at 5975 Miami Lakes Drive east and then lied about it.

Zarcarias said his patrol car had been keyed while at his apartment complex, according to the police report but investigators reportedly found damage on the right side. They said the damage was consistent with the height of the gate latch at the station.

CBS4 discovered Zacarias has been accused of wrongdoing before.

In a lawsuit that was filed last month, Kirenia Cardidad Figuera claims that Zacarias tried to have her wrongly committed to a mental institution after she rejected his attentions.

She said Zacarias mistreated her after being infatuated with her. She said they had during a landlord-tenant dispute.

Figuera said in one instance, Zacarias began yelling at one of her former boyfriends and pulled out a gun and chased him away from her home. She said Zacarias called her repeatedly on the phone.

In another incident, she said Zacarias had a verbal altercation with her and arrested her and accused her of being irrational and then transported her to the Citris Mental Institute. The lawsuit said the staff there found no basis for institutionalization. And she was released within hours.

At the time, Miami-Dade Police could not comment about the lawsuit which has not been resolved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.