Fmr. FHP Trooper Accused Of Filing Faulty Report For A Friend
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MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) -- A Florida Highway Patrol trooper is under arrest, accused of helping a friend cover up a hit-and-run crash that left a man with traumatic injuries.
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) fired David Casillas, 35, back in January. Now, he is facing charges of organized fraud, filing a false insurance claim, and official misconduct, according to our news partners the Miami Herald.
He surrendered Tuesday to Miami-Dade Jail.
Prosecutors allege that Casillas wrote a bogus report for a friend, a dentist named Jesus Del Valle, weeks after the hit-and-run crash that left Yoel Montero, a gardener, with severe injuries.
The crash report was used to file a fake insurance claim for Del Valle's Range Rover SUV.
Del Valle was also arrested after the investigation which lasted more than a year. Another person, repair shop owner Ariel Perrera, is also facing charges and was arrested, according to a press release sent by the State Attorney's office. Perrera is apparently the cousin of a woman Del Valle knew and reportedly repaired the SUV.
According to the arrest report, Del Valle was driving the SUV when he sideswiped a landscaping crew that was working in Miami Beach near 62nd Street in June 2015.
Montero suffered a traumatic head injury and had injuries to his leg which left him hobbled for years.
Del Valle reportedly did not stop even after his passenger side mirror had been ripped off - a detail that was key to the case. Mirrors for 2015 Land Rover's can only be ordered directly from the manufacturer.
A Miami Beach detective discovered that only one mirror for that model had been sold to Perrera.
Prosecutors later alleged that Del Valle turned to Casillas who agreed to file the faulty report saying the crash happened on Bird Road, not Miami Beach. Police say Casillas later acknowledged that Del Valle told him the crash actually happened on Miami Beach.
Witnesses and phone records also place Del Valle at the scene of the crash.
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