Three Hialeah Police Officers and one Miami-Dade Police Officer will be presented with Resolutions of the Florida House of Representatives commending their heroism during an incident that occurred in July, 1997. The presentations will be made at the Hialeah City Commission Chambers at 7:OOPM on Tuesday, September 22, 1998, by Florida State Representative Carlos Valdes, who sponsored the resolutions and secured their enactment during the 1998 Legislative Session.
Officers Julian Guerra, Yojans Martinez, and Mario Pena of the Hialeah Police Department, and Detective Chris McManus of the Miami-Dade Police Department were conducting a joint investigation on July 1, 1997, when they were advised that a man was driving a car in Hialeah with a dead person in the front seat and telling acquaintances that he was going to confront and “kill a cop”. The officers observed and approached the car, whereupon the man commenced firing at the officers, wounding Detective McManus and officer Guerra. Officer Pena returned fire, killing the man in the car. While this was happening, Officer Martinez, then an unarmed trainee, left his police vehicle and directed drivers and pedestrians away from the scene of the gunfire.