Miami-Dade Police honors officer and technician for their service and bravery – NBC 6 South Florida

The Miami Dade Police Department honored two individuals Monday for their acts of bravery, professionalism, and service to help save lives and get criminals off the street.

Officer Ricaurte Lugo Jr., an 8-year veteran on the force and father of two, was given the “Officer of the Year” award after surviving a shooting that left him seriously injured in 2022.

“I am honored. It’s definitely a blessing and I’m glad to be here,” Lugo said. “I thank God so much.” 

On Dec. 5, 2022, Lugo was following a stolen car in Miami-Dade when the suspect inside shot at his cruiser three times. One of those bullets hit him in the face, just under his left eye.

“It’s something always in the back of your mind. You know it can happen,” Lugo said. “I remember feeling it pour down my face, the warm blood. I’m like wow, I’m hit. So, I got to do what I was trained to do.”

Lugo underwent several surgeries but not before calling in the assistance of fellow officers and giving them a full description of the suspect who shot him.

He even treated his own injury on the scene before paramedics arrived.

Eventually, the suspect was caught and charged.

“I remember thinking to myself, okay…I need to remain calm. The more calm I remain, the more I can control myself, control the situation,” Lugo said.

An award was also given out to the “Civilian of the Year” in Miami-Dade.

Pablo Quiles, an aircraft technician with the Miami-Dade Police Department for the last 32 years, was credited with preventing a helicopter crash last May.

“I just happened to look where the defect was,” Quiles said. “Just the tiniest thing could be a catastrophe.”

MDPD officials say Quiles found a loose nut on a bolt in the tail of an MDPD helicopter during a routine inspection after it had already been inspected by a third party. The loose nut could have resulted in a crash if the helicopter had operated without this discovery.

“It was surreal, overwhelming to say the least,” Quiles said.

“That could have been a tragedy. We could have lost our officers out there every day flying, protecting our officers as well as our citizens,” said MDPD Director Stephanie Daniels. “Just knowing he was there doing extra duty…he went above what he should have been doing.”