Wrong-way crash

A South Florida law enforcement officer is under investigation for a crash on I-95 last week.

State troopers and internal affairs detectives are investigating a Miami Beach police officer after his personal car was involved in a wrong-way wreck on Interstate 95 in Broward County.

Officer Jesus Barrenechea, 28, has been removed from road patrol and placed on administrative duty, according to a Miami Beach department spokesman.

''They notified us and we have an ongoing internal affairs investigation,'' said Miami Beach Sgt. Robert Hernandez.

Barrenechea, hired in 2001, was an afternoon patrolman in South Beach.

His car was headed the wrong way on Interstate 95 near Commercial Boulevard about 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 6, according to Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Mark Wysocky.

The driver of the other vehicle suffered nonlife-threatening injuries, Wysocky said.

Barrenechea was found walking ''close to the scene,'' Wysocky said. He has not been charged and troopers are still investigating.

Feel free to say I'm jumping to conclusions, but one has to be under the influence to be driving the wrong way on I-95. If Barrenchea was involved in the acccident, he wouldn't be the first recent law enforcement officer to cause an I-95 wreck by driving the wrong way on the interstate. Two brothers were killed by former FBI agent David Farrall in 1999. Farrall only got 90 days in jail after the Florida Highway Patrol botched the initial investiagation of the crash.

I hope authorities don't do a repeat with Barrenechea if the Miami Beach Officer was at fault December 6th.

Full Disclosure- I'm not exactly unbiased when it comes to wrong-way crashes involving government employees. Click here to get the full story of what happened to me in the 1980's.

Linked to- Bright & Early, Bullwinkle, Rosemary,