Ex-sergeant acquitted in criminal case for threatening to kill Sunrise police lieutenant – but backstory raises alarm – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

(WSVN) – A Sunrise Police sergeant has been arrested and accused of threatening to kill his department's internal affairs chief. He has since been cleared of all charges, but that is far from the end of the story. Heather Walker of 7 is investigating.

This is the mugshot of a Sunrise Police sergeant.

In June, Daniel Rodriguez was jailed for “written death threats” and extortion.

At the time, his attorney told 7News the arrest was in retaliation for reporting misconduct by a higher-ranking officer.

Michael Gottlieb, attorney: “My client saw that an injustice had been committed in his police department and he tried to make amends for it.”

Rodriguez claimed Lt. Brian Katz removed this antique fire alarm bell from the wall of a marijuana grow house in 2017. He said that instead of Katz exhibiting the bell as evidence, it was hung in the police station.

Daniel Rodriguez: “It was taken from a house and left as a trophy for the police. I would liken it to an officer conducting a traffic stop, arresting the driver, and then taking some change from the car. It’s tiny, it’s petty, but it’s wrong.”

Lieutenant Katz is now the head of the Sunrise Police Department's Internal Affairs Division and the man Rodriguez allegedly threatened.

Michael Gottlieb: “You're talking about the integrity of the officer who runs your integrity unit, your internal affairs division. So it's a huge problem and I think they wanted to bury it, which is why they investigated it themselves.”

Rodriguez admits to sending a friend several threatening text messages about Katz.

One read: “I just saw Katz running at Griffin. I thought about stopping him and shooting him. I want to kill him.”

Daniel Rodriguez: “I sent it. It was a low point in my life where everything was taken away from me and I was talking to a friend and venting. And I had no intention of doing anything.”

Prosecutors dropped charges against Rodriguez because “the messages were not sent directly to Katz” and “the state cannot prove that the messages were actually sent maliciously.”

Daniel Rodriguez: “A relief, a relief.”

Rodriguez says the private messages were discovered with a search warrant after he reported Katz.

Daniel Rodriguez: “It’s retaliation. It's people in positions abusing their power and position to carry out a cover-up, to cover up the bell because the bell is an embarrassment to the department.”

Sunrise police call Rodriguez's claim of retaliation “false” and say an investigation into his behavior began in 2023. The police believe that the sergeant reported Katz in order to stop the investigation into his own behavior.

Rodriguez was investigated for a number of departmental violations, including sex on duty. He was acquitted of that but was found to have violated others, including by sending the autopsy photo of a person who shot Rodriguez in an officer-involved shooting in 2020. He admits to sending the photo via text message, but says he took it for training purposes. Rodriguez was fired late last month.

Katz was also investigated. The department found he failed to ensure the bell was planted as evidence. His discipline is verbal advice. Meanwhile, Rodriguez says he's not giving up.

Daniel Rodriguez: “They are trying to tarnish my name. They're trying to throw me out. Block me. Forget me. Delete me. And it won’t happen.”

He now wants to fight to get his job back.

Heather Walker, 7News.

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