Miami-Dade Police said Monday that its departmental policies were violated when an officer escorted Miami Heat superstar LeBron James to Sun Life Stadium for the Justin Timberlake and Jay Z concert Friday night.
Situations requiring police escorts are usually planned in advance. But Miami-Dade Police spokesman Det. Alvaro Zabaleta insisted that the motorcycle escort for James was impromptu, involving an officer working for the stadium.
"We're still not finished looking into it. There's a lot of people we need to talk to,” Zabaleta said. “And if in fact it merits disciplinary action, than that's what the officer’s going to have to face."
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Police said in a statement that they were aware that a video posted by James shows him being escorted onto the property of the stadium.
“Upon further investigation, it has been confirmed that the Miami-Dade Police Department did (facilitate) Mr. James from one intersection to another in the adjacent area of the stadium,” police said. “This was not a scheduled escort and although all safety precautions were taken, the department has identified these actions as a violation of departmental policies.”
On his Instagram account, James posted a video of the vehicle he was in being escorted.
“Light police escort on the wrong side of the street. Headed to the big homey concert. JT. Holler,” he said in the video.
Zabaleta said of the violation, "The department states that at no point in time are we going to allow anybody to go against traffic."
Watch the video:
James wrote, “They treat us so well! Needed it cause traffic was nuts!"
Zabaleta said safety was never compromised. Two intersections were blocked along Northwest 27th Avenue to accommodate James.
"They were able to stop the traffic – we're talking two intersections,” he said. “This is as far as they went – from 191 Street to 199 Street – eight blocks."
The cars seen in the video passing James’ vehicle pulled out of the parking lots of neighboring businesses, according to police.
The officer was one of many working the concert Friday night. Police said they do not know who gave the order for the escort but continue to investigate.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images