DORAL, Florida -- Flags at the Miami-Dade Police Department’s headquarters in Doral are flying at half-staff to honor the memory of an officer who died when the All-Terrain Vehicle he was driving crashed into a tree while he was on patrol in a far south area of the county.
Officials Thursday released the name of the 46-year-old officer, a married father of three who had been with the department for 15 years.
“It is with a heavy heart that I can now confirm the tragic death of Miami-Dade Police Department Officer Jermaine Brown. Assigned to our South District, Officer Brown was fatally injured while conducting an enforcement detail near a canal bank,” police department director Juan Perez said in a statement issued shortly before 9 a.m.
The crash happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday near Southwest 211th Street near a canal next to South Dixie Highway, police said.
“Officer Brown lost his life while protecting our community, as he responded to assist fellow officers. We ask that our Miami-Dade community keep his family in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate through this tragic and sudden loss,” Perez said.
When the crash happened, Brown was on patrol with other officers, near a canal embankment, investigating “community concerns involving criminal activity,” Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said.
Somehow, Brown lost control of the ATV he was driving and crashed into a tree. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Brown was taken to Jackson South Medical Center where he died.
After dark Wednesday, Brown’s body, under a police escort, was taken from the hospital to the office of the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner.
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