Officer Charged With Vehicular Homicide In Miami

For the most part, we trust our law enforcement officers to practice safe behavior and know that they will be there to protect and to serve the public when the need arises. On rare occasions, sadly, these brave men and women are also capable of making a bad decision that can end up causing harm to themselves and others.

In a story appearing on the NBC – television station in Miami’s website, – a Miami-Dade Police officer is now facing the charge of vehicular homicide charge for his involvement in a crash back in March crash that killed another motorist.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said in a news release on Wednesday that three-year veteran of the Miami Police Department, Officer John Young Song, has been charged with vehicular homicide in the March 6 crash that killed 45-year-old Emilio Jesus Vizcaino.

Investigators say that the crash happened on March 6th at approximately 1:30 a.m. at the intersection of Southwest 260th Street and Southwest 147th Avenue located in southwest Miami-Dade County. Officer Song was on duty at the time and driving a marked police cruiser.

Investigators determined that Officer Song ran a stop sign at the intersection traveling at a high rate of speed, possibly as much as 80 miles per hour, when his police cruiser collided with Vizcaino’s vehicle. The investigation also revealed that Song was not responding to any emergency calls at the time, and there was no evidence that he had either his siren or lights on at the time of the fatal crash. The headlights for Officer Song’s police cruiser were found in the “off” position, leading homicide investigators to conclude that he had been traveling in the mostly rural area in the dark without his headlights on.

Emergency crews pronounced Vizcaino dead at the scene.

Miami-Dade Police Department’s Traffic Homicide Unit and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office worked in together on the case. Song turned himself in to authorities and was arrested before being released on bond.