11-14-2007, 12:24 AM
Katherine Fernandez Rundle, State Attorney for Miami-Dade, on Tuesday said her offices will take 'no action' against WPLG investigative reporter Jeff Weinsier, who was arrested last month at a high school for carrying a gun.
Weinsier, a reporter for WPLG since 1994, was taken into custody by Miami-Dade school police on October 23rd, after police said, he refused a request to leave the grounds of Miami Central High School.
Rundle's office said due to the fact that defendant was not on school property, he was not trespassing. It added that anything found on him after he was arrested will be "suppressed as a matter of law".
Weinsier was suspended for two weeks for violating company policy by carrying a gun without permission.
According to the police report, when the reporter was taken into custody he was searched, and he was found to have a loaded handgun. He was later booked into the Miami-Dade county main jail, held on $11,500 bond.
A Miami-Dade police spokesperson said Weinsier was told by school board police not to go on campus, and then was warned three times not to enter the school.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's office said the reporter was not on school grounds.
In video of the confrontation between police and Weinsier shown on WPLG, the reporter could be seen arguing with a police officer, who had ordered Weinsier to cross the street.
"Do you understand me," the police officer said.
"No, I don't understand you," Weinsier said.
"Kindly go across-there's my sergeant right there, kindly go across the street now," the officer said.
"I'm not," said Weinsier, and the officer grabbed him, spun him around, as the camera captured the scene, he was handcuffed.
Police said Weinsier disregarded the warning and walked on the school grounds and arrested, initially he was charged with trespassing.
When he was searched following his arrest police found a loaded .38 caliber revolver tucked into his waistband.
Sources close to the investigation say Wiensier has a concealed weapons permit and may have been working on an undercover investigation for WPLG at the time of his arrest.
The WPLG report on the arrest said Weinsier and his photographer were doing a report on school violence, and the dispute erupted over Weinsier standing on what he considered to be public property, the sidewalk in front of the school.
Officers disagreed, and the confrontation led to his arrest.
WPLG Photographer Frank Debesa, who was working with Weinsier and documented the confrontation, admitted in the WPLG report that Wiensier was carrying a weapon.
"Jeff did have a gun on him," Debesa said. "A 357 revolver."
Debesa was quoted in the WPLG report assaying Weinsier was carrying the gun because of threats he had received following a series of television reports he had done on unsanitary restaurants.
According to biographical information on the WPLG website, Weinsier has been reporting for the ABC affiliate for just over 13 years, having joined the staff in September, 1994. He has longstanding ties to South Florida, having graduated from Miami Beach High. He started his career in Gainesville before eventually finding a position in Miami.
Weinsier, a reporter for WPLG since 1994, was taken into custody by Miami-Dade school police on October 23rd, after police said, he refused a request to leave the grounds of Miami Central High School.
Rundle's office said due to the fact that defendant was not on school property, he was not trespassing. It added that anything found on him after he was arrested will be "suppressed as a matter of law".
Weinsier was suspended for two weeks for violating company policy by carrying a gun without permission.
According to the police report, when the reporter was taken into custody he was searched, and he was found to have a loaded handgun. He was later booked into the Miami-Dade county main jail, held on $11,500 bond.
A Miami-Dade police spokesperson said Weinsier was told by school board police not to go on campus, and then was warned three times not to enter the school.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's office said the reporter was not on school grounds.
In video of the confrontation between police and Weinsier shown on WPLG, the reporter could be seen arguing with a police officer, who had ordered Weinsier to cross the street.
"Do you understand me," the police officer said.
"No, I don't understand you," Weinsier said.
"Kindly go across-there's my sergeant right there, kindly go across the street now," the officer said.
"I'm not," said Weinsier, and the officer grabbed him, spun him around, as the camera captured the scene, he was handcuffed.
Police said Weinsier disregarded the warning and walked on the school grounds and arrested, initially he was charged with trespassing.
When he was searched following his arrest police found a loaded .38 caliber revolver tucked into his waistband.
Sources close to the investigation say Wiensier has a concealed weapons permit and may have been working on an undercover investigation for WPLG at the time of his arrest.
The WPLG report on the arrest said Weinsier and his photographer were doing a report on school violence, and the dispute erupted over Weinsier standing on what he considered to be public property, the sidewalk in front of the school.
Officers disagreed, and the confrontation led to his arrest.
WPLG Photographer Frank Debesa, who was working with Weinsier and documented the confrontation, admitted in the WPLG report that Wiensier was carrying a weapon.
"Jeff did have a gun on him," Debesa said. "A 357 revolver."
Debesa was quoted in the WPLG report assaying Weinsier was carrying the gun because of threats he had received following a series of television reports he had done on unsanitary restaurants.
According to biographical information on the WPLG website, Weinsier has been reporting for the ABC affiliate for just over 13 years, having joined the staff in September, 1994. He has longstanding ties to South Florida, having graduated from Miami Beach High. He started his career in Gainesville before eventually finding a position in Miami.