ORLANDO, Fla. – An Orlando police officer who was previously fired for lying about a 2015 police chase crashed into a State Road 408 tollbooth Saturday, according to officials with the police department.
Officer Frederick Rolle was driving his personal pickup truck at 6:18 a.m. when he crashed into the eastbound Expressway tollbooth near Andes Avenue. Rolle's truck caught fire after the crash. The pay lanes were closed until the scene was cleared about four hours later, police said.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Rolle, who has been with OPD since 2011, was immediately relieved of duty and an internal investigation is underway, Orlando police Public Information Officer Michelle Guido said.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 25, the union representing OPD officers, told News 6 it is not involved with Rolle's relief from duty at this time. The FOP wants to wait for the investigation into the crash to be completed, and will then determine if it will intervene.
Transportation officials also said Monday that they are still assessing the damage and have not yet been able to estimate repair costs.
Officers Michael Favorit Jr. and Rolle were fired on June 29, 2016 for their conduct for a Dec. 28, 2015 incident during which the officers pursued a stolen Jeep without authorization, records show.
The report said the officers didn't use lights or sirens when they pursued the Jeep and never informed dispatchers of the chase. The officers later reported the Jeep as a stolen vehicle and drove it to a liquor store after finding it abandoned in a field, thereby tainting a crime scene, authorities said.
Rolle never mentioned the chase in his police report.
The officers appealed the decision. Both officers were reinstated in June through arbitration, records show. Prior to his rehire at OPD, Rolle worked for the Department of Corrections for six months.
Rolle was previously employed with the Winter Garden Police Department from 2007 to 2011, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.