ORLANDO, Fla. — A pair of Orlando Police officers involved in a bizarre off-the-record chase in December of 2015 have been fired.
The OPD released the termination letters for officers Michael Favorit Jr., and Frederick Rolle on Monday.
An internal investigation into the officers’ actions was started in January after the Dec. 28 chase.
OPD records show the speeds Favorit and Rolle reached during the chase were well above the posted limit and that the officers turned off their lights and sirens during the high-speed chase.
Radio transmissions were heard coming from the officers as they chased a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee through Orange County.
In recordings, dispatchers indicated they had no idea why the officers were chasing the SUV and radioed several times to see if someone was involved in a chase around Pine Chas and Golf Club Parkway.
Department policy requires that officers alert other jurisdictions when a chase leaves the city and supervisors said Favorit and Rolle didn’t respond to dispatchers until after the stolen vehicle was abandoned.
Rolle did not mention the chase or why the Jeep caught their attention in a report he filed several days after the incident.
Rolle said Favorit drove the Jeep back to the city because there were possibly “multiple armed assailants in the immediate area.”
That comment was one of the things touched on in the termination letters.
The officers did not alert the Orange County Sheriff’s Office about the possibility of armed assailants, leaving people in the area vulnerable, the letters said.
“If there were possible armed assailants in the immediate area, you failed to protect the citizens of Orange County of potentially violent felons,” the letters said.
Due to the chase and ensuing cover-up, Favorit and Rolle were fired from the Orlando Police Department.
No information was immediately available on whether or not they planned to appeal the decisions.
Cox Media Group
