By Police1 Staff
PINECREST, Fla. — A Pinecrest Police officer is under fire for failing to help an off-duty officer render aid to two car crash victims who died of their injuries — but the off-duty officer says the on-duty cop deserves further punishment.
Dash cam video from the October incident shows two graduate students — Ying Chen and Hao Liu — lifeless on the street and off-duty Miami police sergeant Javier Ortiz administering CPR to the female victim.
“I jumped out of my car, I have a defibrillator, and checked the vitals on both victims,” Ortiz told CBS4. “I immediately started CPR on the female. It was just me. I had no one to work on the male and I was waiting for help to arrive.”
Pinecrest Officer Ana Carrasco was next to arrive on the scene, and appears to stand over Ortiz and watch as he tries saving Chen.
“I told her that the male was not breathing and had no pulse and she needed to turn him over and start CPR,” said Sergeant Ortiz.I got no response. She just stood there,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz claims that he and bystanders at the scene both begged Carrasco to help as she stood with her hands in her pockets.
Carrasco said she feared that turning the ale victim over would harm him, and that she’s given her only pair of gloves to Ortiz and didn’t have pair for herself, according to CBS.
“I actually made a visual assesment on the male facing down. I didn’t see him breathing I didn’t see his lungs or chest expanding or any signs of life.”
Her proposed punishment was a one-week suspension without pay. Pinecrest Police Chief Samuel Ceballos said in a statement that he will determine her punishment after a meeting with her and her attorney.
“I think that’s pretty unheard of,” Ortiz said. “I’m actually surprised that Pinecrest would be so lenient. She has no business wearing a badge and a gun. Somebody that wears a badge and gun takes an oath, and part of that oath on or off duty is to save lives and she didn’t do it.”