Law Enforcement BPD Officers of the Month

BRADENTON — On April 18th 2015, Detective Benjamin Pieper and Officer Andres Perez of the Bradenton Police Department’s Gang Unit, and officers assigned to the Casual Clothes Unit conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in the 800 block of 28th Circle East for pulling out in front of the officers nearly causing a traffic crash. The occupants of the vehicle were all identified as alleged high ranking members and leaders of a local criminal street gang. 

During the traffic stop a search of the vehicle was conducted during which a loaded SKS assault rifle, ammunition, and body armor was located. Three of the four occupants were determined to be convicted felons. They were charged with Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition by a Convicted Felon.

During the course of the investigation Detective Pieper and Officer Perez contacted the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Gang Unit to pass on information concerning the traffic stop. It was at this point that they learned that the same subjects who they had in custody were suspects in an unrelated aggravated assault that occurred in the jurisdiction of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office a few hours earlier.

It was further discovered that one of the occupants, Mr. Guillermo Trujillo, was suspected of pointing a firearm at the victim of the aggravated assault because she had turned against their gang in a racketeering trial.

The Office of the Statewide Prosecutor filed and prosecuted the case alleging that the occupants of the vehicle were conducting a pattern of criminal gang related activity throughout the day in an effort to promote or further the gang’s interests. Mr. Trujillo was positively identified as the subject who had pointed a firearm at the victim of the aggravated assault being actively investigated by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

DNA evidence that linked Mr. Trujillo to the SKS assault rifle that was located in the vehicle along with officers observing him placing the firearm in the back of the vehicle.

In April of 2015, Mr. Trujillo was found guilty of four charges to include Aggravated Assault with a Firearm, Witness Retaliation, as well as two counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.

As a result of the conviction, Mr. Trujillo was sentenced to sixteen years in the Department of Corrections followed by forty-two years of probation.

The State Attorney’s Office-12th Judicial Circuit, and the Office of the Statewide Prosecutor used Florida State Statute 874.04 which states that gang members who commit crimes that promote or further the gang’s interests can be elevated one degree.

This was the first time in Manatee County that this has been successfully done. The cooperation between all of the criminal justice agencies involved in this investigation garnered the successful prosecution and conviction of Mr. Trujillo.

The diligent investigation conducted by Detective Pieper and Officer Perez certainly played a pivotal role in the positive outcome of this case. Their actions also demonstrated their commitment and dedication to the citizens of the City of Bradenton, so it is with pleasure that Chief of Police Michael Radzilowski named Detective Pieper and Officer Perez Bradenton Police Department’s Officer of the Month for June 2015.”