The snapshot speaks volumes: Two Miami Beach police officers in uniform, one smiling, the other making a face and mugging for the cameras, posing with five young women out partying at a South Beach night club.
The photo, released by Miami-Dade prosecutors Tuesday, now will be evidence against former Miami Beach officer of Derick Kuilan, who investigators say took one of the women on a predawn joyride on his department-issued ATV and promptly plowed into two beachgoers hanging out to see the South Beach sunrise.
The accident left the two victims with severe injuries, one still hospitalized.
"It is mind-boggling that they felt comfortable enough to do something like that," said Miami Beach Police Chief Carlos Noriega, after Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced Kuilan's arrest Tuesday on felony drunk driving charges with serious bodily injury.
"It was reckless," the chief said.
The officers' behavior was "so unprofessional" that one woman at the Clevelander hotel bar suspected the pair were not real officers, rather "entertainment" for the bachelorette party, Fernandez Rundle said.
The ATV episode has proved an embarrassment for Miami Beach police, a department already swamped by negative publicity in recent months. The scrutiny will continue: Noriega confirmed that his internal affairs department is now examining why it took nearly five hours for police to ask paramedics to draw blood on Kuilan.
"No one in the police department, or in law enforcement, can tolerate the concept of a drunken, on-duty police officer," said Fernandez Rundle, flanked by Miami Beach's mayor, city manager and city attorney during an afternoon press conference.
Miami Beach police also has been under scrutiny after officers shot and killed a motorist who officers said was armed during May's Memorial Day weekend, a shooting in which four bystanders were wounded, possibly by police bullets.
Kuilan was one of 11 Miami Beach and Hialeah officers who discharged their weapons in that shooting.
Earlier this week, the department announced it was firing two officer involved in the beating of a gay man in South Beach, a case two years old and unrelated.
The lawyer for one of the crash victims, Luis Almonte, said his client "always had faith in the State Attorney's Office."
"This is only the beginning," said attorney Joseph A. "Tony" Mesa, III. "It's an important step in the process of accountability, but Luis did feel comforted and relieved that the officer was arrested."
A warrant, prepared by prosecutor David I. Gilbert and Miami Beach detective Robert Silvagni, details the case and evidence:
On July 3, Kuilan, an officer of five years, was assigned to ATV patrol, midnight shift. Officer Rolando Gutierrez was assigned to patrol mid-Beach.
Instead of looking for criminals, he and Gutierrez walked into the Clevelander hotel bar, a popular spot for tourists around 5 a.m.
A bachelorette party was in full swing, with four young women from Pennsylvania. They posed with Kuilan and Gutierrez and the group, including Kuilan and Gutierrez, began dancing and drinking.
According to the warrant, Kuilan invited the bachelorette, Adalee Martin, for a ride on the ATV, which he had parked nearby.
She agreed.
In the pitch dark, they drove south, alternating speeds, occasionally turning on headlights when pedestrians were near. As they neared the end of the beach, the two turned around and drove back north, the vehicle's lights still off, the warrant said.
At the time, Kitzie Nicanor and Luis Almonte were on the beach, dipping their feet in the water, when the ATV plowed into them. Two other beachgoers told police that the ATV whizzed by "but they could barely see it, because it had no lights on and it was traveling fast," the warrant said.
Almonte, of North Miami, suffered a broken femur that required surgery.
Nicanor -- in town from Seattle for a family reunion -- suffered a broken femur and had to have her spleen removed. She's still hospitalized in serious condition.
Fellow officers rushed to the scene. Immediately after the crash, Miami Beach Sgt. Michael Muley was met by a member of the bachelorette party, Jamie Aldinger, who showed him the photo taken at the Clevelander.
Muley later sat with Gutierrez and "he smelled the odor of alcohol coming from him," the warrant said.
Nearly five hours later, around 10:30 a.m., Miami Beach Fire-Rescue personnel drew blood from Kuilan. Even with the delay, Kuilan's blood alcohol content level still measured .088, just past the legal limit.
Both officers were fired within days.
Kuilan was charged Tuesday with two felony counts of reckless driving with serious bodily injury and two of DUI with serious bodily injury. Gutierrez does not face criminal charges.
Kuilan surrendered Tuesday to Miami-Dade County Jail and has already posted $30,000 bail.
His arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 25.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
