Son Of Ex-Hialeah Chief Pleads Guilty To Robbery
MIAMI - (CBS4) - An ex-Hialeah cop and son of former Hialeah Police Chief Rolando Bolaños pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to one count of strong armed robbery of a bank.
Under the terms of the plea, Rolando Bolaños Jr. will serve 364 days in a Miami-Dade County jail and be on probation for the next five years.
He was also ordered to pay $2,389 in restitution to Bank Atlantic. Bolaños Jr. also made a public apology in open court saying, "I want to apologize to the employees of Bank Atlantic and to my family for the embarrassment and shame of what happened. I'm sorry."
His attorney Sam Rabin said that "based on evidence and nature of charges, this was in his best interest."
According to Hialeah police spokesman Detective Carl Zogby, Hialeah police, in conjunction with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, issued a warrant for the arrest of Bolaños Jr. in connection with a robbery at a Bank Atlantic at 7775 West 33rd Avenue in Hialeah on February of 2009.
Zogby said, "Among the evidence we gathered was the descriptions of the vehicle and license tag number, surveillance images, and we had a lot of circumstantial and physical evidence."
Bolaños Jr. has a troubled past. In 2004, he resigned from the Hialeah Police Department rather than face misdemeanor charges that he had failed to disclose a previous arrest when he applied to be an officer.
In 1989, at age 17, Bolanos Jr. pleaded guilty to a charge of grand theft auto in a deal in which he testified in federal court against a car-theft ring. The junior Bolaños was sentenced to probation and placed in "community control."
In addition, he pleaded guilty in Georgia in 1994, to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence and paid a fine.
In 1998, a police brutality complaint was also brought against the junior Bolaños and his brother Daniel relating to the beating of Yoel Pacheco of Hialeah.
The brothers were charged with battery and official misconduct and went to trial but a Miami-Dade jury acquitted them both on the charges that they kicked and stomped Pacheco and then filed bogus reports to cover it up.
He must surrender on Feb.1, 2011 to begin serving his sentence.
