Miami cop is probably a serial rapist

[RagingInMiami]

The Miami police officer accused earlier this week of kidnapping a woman in his patrol car and attempting to rape her was charged again Friday in a similar case involving a second victim, authorities said.

The allegations don't end there for Officer Michael P. Ragusa, 31. Authorities say he may be ''a serial rapist'' responsible for other attacks in the same Miami Beach neighborhood.

Ragusa was first arrested Tuesday after a 31-year-old woman told police that on Monday he pulled her into his blue-and-white Ford Crown Victoria as she walked home near Collins Avenue and 73rd Street. He attempted to rape her, but let her go after she claimed to have a venereal disease. Later, he sent her a text message and called her cellphone, police say.

He was charged with kidnapping and attempted sexual battery by a law enforcement officer.

That was Tuesday. On Friday, authorities charged Ragusa, a Coconut Grove afternoon-shift patrolman, with kidnapping and sexual battery by a police officer in connection with an attack last November that took place in the same area as this week's incident. Investigators said he lived in the same neighborhood.

http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/51271.html

[Taverner]

1. No...the police don't need any oversight

They can police themselves .... :sarcasm:

[grytpype]

2. A previous incident involving Ragusa

With pic of the perp

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2007-03-01/news/unfriendly-fire/

[TomInTib]

5. Larry Jackson was lucky.

If he would have been a regular guy, he would have been in a heap of trouble.

[Eric J in MN]

3. Ideally, a person would have to be at least 35 years old...

...to join a police force, so that people with criminal tendencies can be discovered before they get a badge.

[PDJane]

4. Oh, my dear.........

having married and divorced a cop (I plead youthful stupidity and hormones), I can say that I know very few folks who want the job who should have it.

[proud patriot]

6. That's some fucked up shit right there

You can't resist arrest .. man o man that is awful.

I hope they through the book at him ...

Awful ..Just Awful x(

[WorldResident]

7. I hope they throw this guy in gen pop

I hope the sergeant abused by this officer is defended by the FOP and gets big bucks from the city and the officer and I hope all victims of this officer bring Section 1983 lawsuits against the city.

[Laurier]

10. Tried and convicted already in your view?

Without a trial even. Nothing but a news story is required to convince you of his guilt?

I sincerely hope for your sake that you are never accused of a crime and then tried by a jury that thinks like you.

[WorldResident]

14. Let's add the caveat if proven guilty

From the facts of it though, it does not look good for the defendant IMHO.

[WinkyDink]

15. We're not the jury, and THEY are the only ones to whom this caveat applies.

The rest of us haven't lost our First Amendment rights (Dan Abrams painstakingly used to explain this).

[Ninja Jordan]

8. I'm surprised internal affairs didn't uncover this.

[Laurier]

9. Every profession has its share of baddies.

Cops are no exception. They might even have more than their share of baddies, actually, what with that whole "authority" complex and such that draws some of them to the profession.

But still, the doctrine of "innocent until proven guilty" applies to an accused cop as much as it does to an accused butcher, an accused baker, an accused candlestick maker, an accused homeless person, an accused accountant, an accused bank teller, an accused store clerk, an accused CEO, an accused gas station attendant, etc.

[RagingInMiami]

11. But not every profession allows people to openly carry guns

[Laurier]

12. So?

That doesn't address my post at all, but I am confident that you will at some point. Now would be good.

[RagingInMiami]

13. The point of your post, I assume, is to remind us of the judicial process?

That in most cases -- like if you're not being jailed as a "enemy combatant" -- then you're entitled to a fair trial?

This is not a civics class. I think we know that by now. Notice how I used the word "probably" in the title of the OP.

My point is that cops are usually presumed innocent until mounting evidence indicates otherwise.

The butcher, baker, candlestick maker and especially the homeless person don't get that privilege.

[BlueIris]

16. Ugh. Horrifying. nt