Jenna Maldonado, a rookie reserve officer with the Homestead police department, has been suspended pending investigation of an incident at a Super Bowl party in which it is alleged she pulled her department-issued service weapon and pointed it at a man, who is said to be her boyfriend. Maldonado is the daughter of former Homestead mayor, Lynda Bell."It is an IA [Homestead Police Internal Affairs] investigation that is ongoing and she is on suspension from the Reserve Officer Program," Homestead Police Department Spokesman Captain Ed Bowe said. "The Miami-Dade Police Department's Domestic Violence Division is conducting the criminal investigation, and will decide on any criminal charges, or referral to the State Attorney." Several people at the party who witnessed the incidents have provided recorded statements. Little information was being released because the investigation was still ongoing.
Bowe said that because the investigation is pending the department could not comment or release specifics on the case. Defense attorney John Musca commenting on the case said, "The investigation is in its very early stages. Little information is likely to be released until the investigation is further along."
Homestead's Reserve Officer Program employs those who successfully graduate from the police academy and allows them to work part-time hours to obtain on-the-job experience. Reserve Officers are paid only $1 per year and do not receive benefits. Reserve officers are included in a pool of eligible applicants when permanent positions on the force become available.
Sources say the incident took place at a Super Bowl party in the unincorporated Redlands area of Miami-Dade County. Maldonado and her boyfriend got into a heated argument. As the argument escalated, Maldonado allegedly pulled her service weapon and threatened her boyfriend with the gun. Over a dozen people witnessed the incident but it was not reported until the next day when the boyfriend reported the incident to the Homestead Police Department.
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