Miami Police officer charged after stealing a car crash victim’s bank card

April 9th, 2010 - 2:32 am ICT by BNO News  

MIAMI, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) – A Miami, Florida police officer was charged for stealing a victims bank card, prosecutors said Thursday.

Miami Police Officer Christian Alvarez-Vega, 37, a 12-year veteran police officer, responded in his official capacity to an incident where the victim had been the passenger in a car crash in the early morning hours of January 11, but after he transported the victim in his police car, he found the victim’s bank card.

Alvarez-Vega contacted the victim at around 3:30 a.m., local time, claiming that he needed the victim’s bank “PIN” number as part of his official police investigation. The victim provided the information, and Alvarez-Vega, still in uniform and driving his marked police car, and without consent from the victim, went to a supermarket ATM and used that bank card to withdraw $460 from the victim’s bank account.

Alvarez-Vega was charged in a criminal complaint with depriving an individual of his civil rights while acting under color of law, and possessing and using, without lawful authority, a means of identification of that same individual. He was released on a $150,000 personal surety bond and is scheduled to appear in court on April 29, 2010 for a preliminary hearing or arraignment.

If convicted of these charges, Alvarez-Vega faces a maximum prison sentence of 6 years.

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