A Pinecrest Police officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing for opening fire on an ATV whose driver struck him last year, prosecutors said.
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Officer Andres Garcia was legally justified in the July 19, 2025 shooting, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said in a close-out memo last week.
Garcia and other officers had responded to reports of several off-road vehicles driving recklessly when they encountered multiple vehicles at a gas station near U.S. 1 and Southwest 104th Street, the memo said.
The memo said Garcia stopped his patrol vehicle in front of an off-road vehicle driven by Adolfo Denis Jr., who immediately attempted to flee.
Video showed Denis speeding off, hitting Garcia as he was opening the door to his car and pinning him.
Garcia fired nine shots at the ATV and the vehicle was hit three times, but neither Denis or his two passengers were hit, the memo said.
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Dashcam video showed a Florida Highway Patrol trooper performing a PIT maneuver on the fleeing ATV a short time later.
The memo said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reviewed video, interviewed witnesses, and documented the damage to the vehicles before it was determined Garcia was justified in the shooting.
“Officer Garcia was authorized to make an arrest for a forcible felony and he was also authorized to use deadly force in self-defense or in defense of others,” the memo said. “Therefore, having reviewed all the reports, photographs, audio-recordings, and video-recordings, we determined that Officer Garcia was legally justified in discharging his weapon.”
Denis still faces charges including aggravated battery on an officer, leaving the scene of a crash, and aggravated fleeing and eluding after an accident.
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