Opa-locka Police Major Peter Cruz had to know his week was off to a bad start when, before the sun even rose on Monday morning, he crashed his city owned pickup into a fence along a tree lined Aventura street.
It only got worse from there.
His ill-timed, single car accident was witnessed by the Aventura Chief of Police Steve Steinberg, who I’m told was hardly a Peter Cruz fan to begin with.
Then again, I’m hard pressed to find anyone who has anything nice to say about the former North Miami Commander, whose departure was cheered by his colleagues at the NMPD, when he and his only friend, Commander Jeffrey Key, resigned. The entire staff at the North Miami Police Department breathed a collective sigh of relief as they wished them a bon voyage.
Both Key and Cruz were recruited by Opa-locka’s then-City Manager, the terminally incompetent Kelvin Baker. They were offered and accepted positions on a “police force [that] has been ridiculed as the place where almost any officer, even one with a criminal past, could get hired,” as reported by the Miami Herald in Opa-locka police major charged with DUI.
The article also reported:
About a month ago, however, an anonymous letter was sent to the city, alleging that Cruz was engaged in inappropriate relations with a fellow female officer, and that other female officers were preparing to file complaints of sexual harassment against him and other officers on the force. “He knows he can do whatever he wants,’’ the letter said. It’s not clear whether the city was investigating the allegations.
Peter’s Big Aventura Adventure ended with his being led into the police department’s holding cell, buck naked, and proceeded to pee himself, proving conclusively that he can, in fact, “do whatever he wants.”
Cruz was then transported to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and booked.
Hopefully clothed.
Cruz apparently posted the $1,000.00 bond because as of yesterday he joined the ranks of fellow “distinguished” NMPD alumni, Marc Elias and Stephen Johnson, in the unemployment line.
On Thursday, the Miami Herald reported that Peter Cruz “resigned” from the Opa-locka Police Department.
Big surprise.
It appears that his resignation, presumably forced, was made just in the nick of time. If Cruz hadn’t brought this new trouble on himself, chances are he was about to be the subject of yet another Internal Affairs investigation.
The Herald also reported that “two city employees recently accused Cruz of drawing a picture of two uniformed officers smoking cigars while a man is lynched in the background.”
What a gem of a human being.
It’s no surprise that my recent posts about Peter Cruz, whom I have never met or spoken with, have garnered some of the highest number of hits in the history of this website.
In addition to comments posted on the blogs, I’ve also received emails and phone calls from many of Peter’s former colleagues and other North Miami employees, telling me exactly what they think of him. “Asshole,” “son of a bitch,” and “m-effer” are among the most colorful adjectives I’ve heard so far.
A common thread among all the “well wishes” is that it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
As a public service to those of you who have been betrayed, dissed, cheated, screwed over, and abused by Peter Cruz during his less than stellar 30-year career in law enforcement, I invite you to pay tribute to him here in the comment section below.
Feel free to get it off your chest, and give him the send off he so richly deserves.
Complaint Department Comment Section open in 3, 2, 1…
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
Here I thought this was an advanced scout for an alien invasion force. Turns out they were just flying by and the crew got tired of putting up with his shit and threw him out the hatch. The alien dunce cap was a clue for the earthlings.
Now that’s some funny shit there. He looks like a clown. Oh wait, he is a clown!
I agree Marty Peter Cruz has always been a zero and so has Jeff Key another stellar promotion by the North Miami elite who promoted them both to glorified sergeants, I mean commanders. Key is on his way out because his incompetence is sure to stand out more than ever under the new city manager. Speaking of looser Alex Hernandez now has no place to hide since his buddy Cruz is gone. Hernandez is another lying piece of shit who has screwed over several offices and is having an affair with a female officer who came (no punt intended) from FIU. Opa-locka, what a place!!!
I’ve never known Pete to do anything of value while at NMPD. All he did was act like a clown his whole career there. In fact, most people on the 4th floor would say he was probably the worst employee NM has ever had. The only reason he was promoted to commander was because he was so far up mayor Andre Pierre ass, it wasn’t even funny. Peter Cruz has always, and will always be a bum.
He is a double douchebag, I love when the karma train moves slowly. Seems to inflict more injury.
I’m surprised that you haven’t reported on the gay pride paraphernalia found in his vehicle. I’m told that their crime scene unit has photos of it. Only one public records request away. It’s a shame that he has to be closeted (apparently)
Karma has finally found its mark .Its a shame though that on different scenes he responded to as a back up other items where stolen ,money jewelry and anything that would fit in his pocket.then had the nerve to open his mouth to try to start a movement to have seriously sick officers fired.I won’t lose any sleep over this news that’s for sure.
If you get some of the old timers talking they can tell you plenty of stories about Cruz and his “sticky fingers”. He was known for it just like you said. Just ask a certain k-9 officer who busted him taking cash from a house in an alarm call.
Peter Cruz, should have ousted 30 years ago, but Each covered his ass. In typical Cruz fashion he used others to create issues on the department.
He also used his own family member at channel 7 news to do a story, giving out the names and locations of undercover personnel.
Maybe he can get a job, cleaning rest rooms!
Useless, abusive, vindictive human being!
Glad to see him out of the profession!
Pete Dominguez, Peter Cruz, and David Rosen. What do they all have in common?
What? Tell us. For PETE’S sake don’t leave us guessing. Pun intended. (:
I’ll take “snake in the grass for a thousand”.
Looks like we have a winner.
I hope this is the end of the Peter Cruz long and tarnished career. This guy should never have been a cop to begin with. He’s nothing more than scum. A liar a thief and a slimy piece of garbage. All he ever did was use people. The black officers at work followed him like some kind of Pied Piper thinking he was their friend then he would turn around and talk behind their back and call them N______. He played basketball with and befriended Andre Pierre then talked about him and all the Haitians. Cruz just knew what side his bread was buttered and he kissed Marc Elias and Andre Pierre’s butt just to get promoted.
The guy never did anything worthwhile as a cop except get out of handling calls and hang out at his house on duty. It’s good to see karma finally caught up with him
Opa-Locka is the Karma bug. First Antonio (scumbag) Sachez and now Peter (the racist) Cruz. Brothers from another! Two of the most vindictive, racist, lying, SOBs law enforcement has ever produced in South Florida. Sanchez is working for a security company and now maybe he can hire long lost brother Cruz. All Opa-Locka needs now is for the uneducated, can’t do anything w/o his side kick Cruz to resign and do all of us in OL a favor QUIT!
BTW Key does your wife know u have a girlfriend. Does the city manager know your creditials to be a Chief are more like that of a NMPD Sergeant.
This person speaks the truth! Very well done, and accurate.
Did Donald Blanchard go bail his buddy, Peter Cruz, out of jail. How do these idiots get away with all the things they do. That’s why the NMPD is the way it is. They breed this idiots, train them, promote them and prepare them for high ranking positions at other departments when they retire from the NMPD. Prepare yourselves at OLPD, because Donald Blanchard is next. That’s where the NMPD seems to be dumping all their trash. So I don’t know what those guys have in common because I don’t know David Rosen or Pete Dominguez. I can only imagine. But “loser” is probably it.
Too little too late. Cruz belongs in prison. I worked with him for over a decade sadly. He is the most vile and corrupt piece of scum to ever hold a badge for that city. Truth be told that departments entire old guard was one step away from career criminals. Donna and Glen Kinsey stealing from the credit union, Ronnie and Franco running around doing blow and shooting people, kidnapping people. Each and his bullshit cronyism. I find it ironic that Each covered for all these idiots for so long but in the end they all turned on him…..so Cruz, Jewett and Dolan go by the Each’s house in the middle of the night and shoot it up with his wife inside. Proof that if you lay with snakes, you get bit. Thank god I left that den of incompetent and corrupt thieves. Peter Cruz was at the top of the pile of a long list of scumbags to come out of that department. The funniest part is the fact that the one cop in Dade County that he hates more than anyone is the one that busted him…..Bwahahahaaaaaaa! Burn in hell Cruz.
Well, well, well, aren’t you the pot calling the kettle black? That’s not saying much coming from a guy who falsified his time sheets the whole time he was assigned to HIDTA. I hear all you did was stay home playing video games on your computer while you lied on your time sheets and STOLE thousands of dollars from the City of North Miami in overtime pay. Is it true that you cried like a little bitch scared about what they might have on you? A gps under your car, maybe they had been following you? Yeah, you were shitting yourself then weren’t you? The good word is that computers seemed to be quite a problem for you. Is it true your ex girlfriend dumped you after she put a spyware program on your computer and discovered your favorite websites were “Black Monster Cock” and “Blacks on Blondes”? A little inter-racial fetish or do you just have a thing for black male penises? It’s a new millennium, you can come out of the closet.Be loud and be proud! We all know, deep down you had a thing for Ray. Is your wife on to you about that yet?
Wasn’t it your dear old dad who told you to quit before the investigation was closed so you wouldn’t get decertified? Yeah. Mr. Morality was so ready to go after Cruz but it looks like he steered you into avoiding any charges for theft. It sure looks like ol Chiefy knew how to keep you out of hot water. Probably because of all his years of experience on FDLE’s Criminal Justice standard board. You know, the one that determines wether or not to pull a cops certification. Daddy-O sure knew how make sure you didn’t lose your police certificate.
It doesn’t seem to have helped much. That moving company franchise, how’d that work out for you? Oh that’s right, they booted your ass out after you ripped off your partner. Daddys pull couldn’t do much for you when you tried to get back into law enforcement though did it? North Miami refused to rehire you, you got turned down for that job, what was it? Oh yeah, the state Fraud Depertment or something?
So now you sit in the middle of bum fuck Kansas piddling away at some trucking school and pecking at a computer keyboard like a pathetic has-been following everything that goes on in North Miami. That place that you’re so glad to be away from, yet you can’t seem to pull yourself away from your computer to stop following everything that goes on.
Damn bro you really are in bad shape! But hey, you can always call Pete Cruz. I mean, you two seem to have a lot more in common than you’d like to admit! Mwaaaahaaaahaaaa
I”ll take “JEFF STEINBERG” for 500- Alex
You’re our Jeapordy winner!!