Current Events > Police officer's wife dies while trapped in rear of Police SUV

(+) Yeah! (+)

The wife of a veteran Miami police officer died after she became trapped in the rear of his patrol SUV, while he was asleep inside their home.
On Friday, Clara Paulino died in the back seat of the police SUV in Miami Shores, Florida, as her husband, Aristides Paulino, slept inside their home after he had completed a night shift with the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Mr Paulino left the SUV unlocked on the familys driveway, and the 56-year-old climbed into the rear of the vehicle while looking for something, but got trapped when the door closed, according to the Miami Herald.
Ms Paulino did not carry a mobile phone into the car, and was unable to honk the horn for help, as the SUV is fitted with a safety partition to prevent people detained from reaching the front seats.
Stephen Mitchell, the general services bureau director for the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office, told the Herald that most police vehicles feature mechanisms that prevent them from being opened from the inside.
Thats standard option with most law enforcement vehicles so that a detainee cant get out of the back of the vehicle, he said.
Miami-Dade detectives found Ms Paulinos fingerprints all over the inside of the SUV, and an officer told the Herald that clearly, she was panicked and trying to get out.
Temperatures rose well above 90f in Miami on Friday, and Ms Paulino spent several hours in the backseat of the vehicle, that one officer described as literally a cage.
Mr Paulino, who has served the midnight shift in the local Wynwood neighbourhood for nearly two decades, has been a police officer in Miami for more than 25 years.
Investigators are treating the death of the 56-year-old as an accident, but it remains under investigation by the Miami-Dade Police Departments Homicide Bureau, according to the New York Post.
Police spokesman, lieutenant Carlos Rosario told the Herald that Its very preliminary, but added: Theres still a lot of work to be done. But right now, its an unclassified death.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/literally-cage-florida-police-officer-161937662.html

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Flo-rida

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He screwed up leaving it unlocked. She shouldn't have been there. But everyone makes mistakes. A horrible accident. I can't imagine. RIP.

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Wow, that's tragic.

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What the hell would she be looking for in the back of his cop car?


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An accident? Well see. Who are the investigators? The cops friends?

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This is the second time I've heard of a death like this

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Oooo interesting, they're leaving open the possibility he actually killed her.
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Christ, what a horrible way to die.

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What on earth could she have lost that wouldve ended up in the back of a police suv?

I'm really curious what she was looking for in the back seat of the cop car though.
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mech dragon posted...

An accident? Well see. Who are the investigators? The cops friends?

"The wife of a veteran Miami police officer died "

"it remains under investigation by the Miami-Dade Police Departments Homicide Bureau"

Yep. Need to have a 3rd party investigate.

I dont get why she had to crawl in

It sounds like just an awful tragedy, like those poor fucking bastards that left their kid in their car. Many aren't acumbags, just normal people that were too busy. The one guy didnt realize till he went to daycare to pick up his kid and realized he never dropped her off. I knew a guy that rolled over on his newborn while sleeping on the couch and suffocated it. Dumb but innocent accidents with horrible results. My heart aches for those people.

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The heat index was only 92

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1NfamousACE_2 posted...

The heat index was only 92

Doesn't matter, if it's totally sealed is was probably over 120 in there.
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Simon_Gruber posted...

"The wife of a veteran Miami police officer died "

"it remains under investigation by the Miami-Dade Police Departments Homicide Bureau"

Yep. Need to have a 3rd party investigate.

Pointless waste of tax payer's money then.

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1NfamousACE_2 posted...

The heat index was only 92

If the heat index is 92, it's going to get a hell of a lot hotter in a car with the windows up.

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Let's be honest, he killed her.

What was his alibi? Bet he was sleep

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why would she be looking for something in the back of a police car?

seems suspicious imo

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If I was her, I would have used every bit of strength I have to break a window. They have windows in the back dont they?

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Blue_Inigo posted...

If I was her, I would have used every bit of strength I have to break a window. They have windows in the back dont they?

Some police cars have bars on the inside of those windows.

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Blue_Inigo posted...

If I was her, I would have used every bit of strength I have to break a window. They have windows in the back dont they?

im sure that didnt occur to her. You are a genius of survival

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CableZL posted...

Wow, that's tragic.

Hopefully it really was just a terrible accident, but it does sound a little sketchy. What would be in the back of a police vehicle that she would need to look for?

Maybe they could retrofit an emergency unlocking mechanism in the back seats? Like you have to type in a code or something so criminals can't accidentally let themselves out. Idk.

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Yeah, I'm also questioning why she would be looking for something in the rear of a police vehicle.

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Yea, I really doubt an adult woman needed to find something in the back seat of the police, crawled in instead of simply leaning in, AND opening the car door so little that it ended up closing on its own.

I really doubt it.

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Seems suspicious, but anything is possible in Florida.

you guys are right. this is suspect ASHELL!

why does she need to be in the back of a car she has no right to be in?

cuttin_in_farm posted...

Yea, I really doubt an adult woman needed to find something in the back seat of the police, crawled in instead of simply leaning in, AND opening the car door so little that it ended up closing on its own.

I really doubt it.

Car door closing on its own is the only part that makes sense if it doesn't have a really strong latch and if the driveway is at an incline.

But the rest of it doesn't make sense to me :/

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CableZL posted...

Yeah, I'm also questioning why she would be looking for something in the rear of a police vehicle.

Could be anything, really. If the vehicle is taken home and not stored at a police station, then it is probably also sometimes used for personal use or there's at least a higher propensity for personal items to be stored in them.

He could have asked her to get something for him, or she could have asked where something was and he told her. Who knows? This doesn't seem like a far fetched situation to me, but I think it should still be fully investigated.

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Houston posted...

Could be anything, really. If the vehicle is taken home and not stored at a police station, then it is probably also sometimes used for personal use or there's at least a higher propensity for personal items to be stored in them.

He could have asked her to get something for him, or she could have asked where something was and he told her. Who knows? This doesn't seem like a far fetched situation to me, but I think it should still be fully investigated.

Why would they be storing personal items in what amounts to a detainment cell for suspects :/

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cuttin_in_farm posted...

Yea, I really doubt an adult woman needed to find something in the back seat of the police, crawled in instead of simply leaning in, AND opening the car door so little that it ended up closing on its own.

I really doubt it.

Yeah, this story sounds super sketchy. Especially since the whole "she was looking for something" part is obviously not something that can be confirmed if no one even knew she was in there.

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Hexenherz posted...

Why would they be storing personal items in what amounts to a detainment cell for suspects :/

if he was stupid enough, he's about to get fired.

also he was asleep so he wasnt telling his wife to get anything.

Houston posted...

Could be anything, really. If the vehicle is taken home and not stored at a police station, then it is probably also sometimes used for personal use or there's at least a higher propensity for personal items to be stored in them.

He could have asked her to get something for him, or she could have asked where something was and he told her. Who knows? This doesn't seem like a far fetched situation to me, but I think it should still be fully investigated.

Why are you storing stuff in the back that potential criminals can get their hands on? The facts don't add up and I agree this is suspect af but Florida has shown how many idiots their are and she could've been looking for space jesus as well

I'll bet it'll come out she was strangled or drugged and then shoved in there. That sequence of events just makes no sense.

That's crazy,if it was me I would of sacrificed a foot to break out.So many ways to break a back glass.I could even use my belt.Still sad.

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Houston posted...

Could be anything, really. If the vehicle is taken home and not stored at a police station, then it is probably also sometimes used for personal use or there's at least a higher propensity for personal items to be stored in them.

If it's set up as described, with no inside handles and clearly meant only for suspects, then nobody else should ever be back there.

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Shablagoo posted...

Some police cars have bars on the inside of those windows.

Most police cars here have those bars. I havent seen one without them in quite some time

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Hexenherz posted...

Why would they be storing personal items in what amounts to a detainment cell for suspects :/

There's usually two compartments to the back of a police SUV. One is specifically used for detaining a suspect, which is separated by bars. Then the very back is used for storage of other items which could include flares, masks, gloves, etc. that the officer may need. I suppose it makes sense for it to also not be able to be opened from the inside, in case the suspect manages to get back to that portion.

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Yeah, this is pretty suspicious...

Okay actual theory time. They had sex in the car, and she left something in there so she went back to get it before he went to work while he was asleep.
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Get the FBI involved, this story is so suspicious

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harley2280 posted...

Okay actual theory time. They had sex in the car, and she left something in there so she went back to get it before he went to work while he was asleep.

Or she was looking for evidence he had sex with someone else in the back of the car. Hence why she waited for him to be asleep.

Still sounds like BS to me, and she was murdered (not necessarily be her husband) though.

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Its definitely a really weird situation, but leaving someone locked in a car isnt something someone, especially a cop, is going to go to for murder.

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Jerry_Hellyeah posted...

Its definitely a really weird situation, but leaving someone locked in a car isnt something someone, especially a cop, is going to go to for murder.

says who

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Jerry_Hellyeah posted...

Its definitely a really weird situation, but leaving someone locked in a car isnt something someone, especially a cop, is going to go to for murder.

crimes of passion happen every day in his line of work

Jerry_Hellyeah posted...

Its definitely a really weird situation, but leaving someone locked in a car isnt something someone, especially a cop, is going to go to for murder.

On the surface it makes total sense though, there's no way to prove that he did anything malicious and it looks like she was just an unfortunate victim of circumstance.

But it would depend on different factors like where they live and how the driveway is set up and stuff. I can't imagine her packing her in there in the middle of the day in a crowded residential neighborhood.

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This sounds like a murder.

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