Miami-Dade Detective Shot In Grow House Gunfight Honored In D.C.
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Miami-Dade police detective shot three times in the line of duty received an award from President Obama on Saturday.
Detective John Saavedra, a former Miami-Dade PBA Officer of the year, is being recognized by the National Association of Police Organizations for his heroic efforts displayed during a wild shootout at a Miami-Dade grow house back in July of last year.
"We know that when we need you most you'll be ready to dash in to danger to protect our lives even if it means putting your lives on the line," said President Obama. "You embody America at its best, at its bravest and you set an example."
The Top Cops Awards is an annual event dedicated to honoring selected officers from around the country for their contributions to the American people.
Det. John Saavedra's trip to the nation's capital comes as a bond hearing for Luis Estevanell, the man accused of helping to run the Miami grow house where the shooting took place, continues in a Miami-Dade courtroom.
Surveillance cameras captured the gun fight. The video shows Estevanell talking to police, who didn't realize that the homeowner Gerard Delgado was sitting in a BMW with dark-tinted windows in the driveway of the home near Coral Way and SW 60th Court.
WEB VIDEO EXTRA BELOW: WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO AND AUDIO: POLICE SHOOTOUT SURVEILLANCE VIDEO
Delgago gets out og the car pointing a gun at the officers, and a gun fight erupts. Officer Saavedra was shot three times; twice in the abdomen just below his bullet proof vest, and once in the leg. Delgado was shot and killed by another officer.
"I fired one shot from behind my vehicle," said the undercover officer who fired the fatal shot to Delgado's head. "When I fired the weapon he went down, I didn't know if I had killed him or not."
Estevanell survived the intense close-range shootout with police, his 911 call during the incident was heard for the first time in court on Friday.
"There's been a shooting, there's been a shooting," said Estevanell to a Miami-Dade dispatcher. "They say they're the police and they're not the police. They just shot my friend."
Police later found 80 pounds of marijuana worth $90,000 inside the home.
Estevanell, who did not fire any shots, is charged with possession of cocaine, trafficking in marijuana and second-degree felony murder. In Florida, anyone who commits a felony in which a death occurs can be held responsible for murder.
Saavedra told CBS4 in September that this incident shows how dangerous the job can be. He said he has a bullet inside him that may be with him for the rest of his life.
"I'm doing better, but I am still in pain," he said. "This what I love to do and what I choose to do, and with this there are consequences and losing my life is one of them."
