Newly released body camera video shows Davie police questioning a former Lauderhill police officer who was later charged in a March hit-and-run crash involving a motorcyclist. The officer, 34-year-old Thomas Manfredi, was still in uniform during the interview.
Police said that just before midnight on March 10, Manfredi and his girlfriend left a restaurant on University Drive in a green Jeep. Investigators said Manfredi made a left turn without yielding, hit a motorcyclist and drove away.
Body camera footage shows the motorcyclist being treated at the scene and loaded into an ambulance. He was placed on a ventilator at the hospital and needed surgery after breaking his right tibia and fibula.
The next day, Manfredi told Davie officers he did not know how the back bumper of his Jeep was damaged. He said he had been hit after parking at home. An officer questioned that account and said police would investigate. Manfredi said he was nervous and scared. Later, an officer at the crash scene found broken vehicle parts that police say came from his Jeep.
Manfredi later surrendered to Davie police and was taken into custody. He was fired after his arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to a second-degree felony count of leaving the scene of a crash involving serious injury and a misdemeanor count of knowingly giving false information to law enforcement. His attorney, Michael Gottlieb, said the case is in discovery and declined further comment.
