Sep 29, 2009 9:32 pm US/Eastern
Officer Involved In 2 Shootings Failed Drug Test
Officer Tavss Was Relieved Of Duty With Pay In Mid-September
Police Stressed It Was Not Due To His Involvement In The June Shootings
MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) ―
-
-
Samir Shehada, (pictured here) is the brother of Husein Shehada who was shot and killed on Miami Beach on June 14, 2009.
CBS
-
-
Lawrence McCoy Jr.
Courtesy Of The McCoy Family/CBS
CBS4 News has confirmed that a Miami Beach police officer involved in two police shootings in June and later suspended with pay on an unrelated matter, was relieved of duty after he tested positive for marijuana, according to a
CBS4 News source and the officer's attorney.
Officer Adam Tavss attorney Gene Gibbons and a
CBS4 News source both say that when Tavss was "relieved of duty" earlier this month, it was because he failed a marijuana drug test.
Officer Adam Tavss was "relieved of duty with pay" on Monday, September 14th, for an "internal personnel matter that is currently under investigation," according to a Miami Beach police release.
The release also stated, "The matter in question is unrelated to the two police shootings that Officer Tavss was involved with earlier this year."
The first shooting Tavss was involved in took place June 14th when Husein Shehada, a tourist from Virginia was shot and killed outside Twist nightclub on Washington Avenue. Police responded to 911 calls about an armed man outside the nightclub. When Shehada and his brother were confronted by police and stopped, Husein failed to respond to officers' commands, according to police. Husein was fatally shot by Officer Adam Tavss, a three-year employee. according to police. It turned out that Shehada was not armed with a gun, only a glass bottle.
Just four days later on the MacArthur Causeway, Tavss was involved in the shooting death of Lawrence McCoy, an alleged robber who carjacked a taxicab and then crashed head-on with another car on the causeway.
McCoy, according to police, came out of the cab with a gun and began firing at police officers who returned fire. Police say the gun battle continued as McCoy ran down the causeway before finally being killed at the base of the bridge leading to Miami Beach near the Coast Guard station.
Between 20 and 40 shots were fired, according to sources familiar with the investigation. Officers fished a pistol out of Biscayne Bay two days after the shooting, a gun McCoy may have ditched before being shot.
The State Attorney's Office is still investigating the two shootings.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Super Bowl Ad: Snickers & Betty White
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Dow Surges Above 10,000 After Monday Slump 1 hr 9 mins ago
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments