BSO Deputy Arrested On Hit & Run, Drug Possession Charges

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BROWARD (CBSMiami) – The Broward Sheriff's Office announced they arrested one of their own after a hit-and-run investigation led them to his home where they found a plethora of drugs.

Deputy Santiago Mayorga has been suspended with pay and relieved of his badge after being taking into custody Tuesday.

According to BSO, Mayorga was in his marked cruiser when he got into an accident at around 10:20 p.m. on July 4.

BSO said Mayorga exited northbound I-95 at Copans Road directly behind Penny Reynolds' 2012 Mazda 3.

Mayorga allegedly side-swiped the Mazda when they both moved from the merge lane into the eastbound right lane.

"I was frightened but angry. It was, you know, unexpected," Reynolds told CBS4's Tiani Jones.

At first she said she didn't even know that it was a deputy that hit her car.

"The next thing I know, I was getting hit from behind and side-swiped," she said. "And the back of the deputy's vehicle hit the front of my car."

She said she continued to follow him and not once did he make an attempt to stop.

"He just kind of nonchalantly kept going through the lights," she said. "I'm pretty sure he should have known I was following him."

Several BSO units – including the Public Corruption Unit, Internal Affairs and THI – responded to Mayorga's Pompano Beach home where they said they "saw – in plain view – drug paraphernalia and a substance believed to be marijuana."

BSO detectives said besides finding drugs in the home, they found a marijuana grinder, a cigarette wrapper with an unknown chalky substance and marijuana residue in his marked car.

Reynolds said she was shocked when investigators called her and told her of the deputy's arrest, especially the drug charges.

"I just heard that this afternoon… they let me know that's what they found," she said. "I uncovered this big deal and they thanked me for it."

Mayorga is being charged with possession of amphetamine, possession of LSD, possession and/use of drug paraphernalia and possession of cannabis over 20 grams. He also faces charges for leaving the scene of a crash and failing to use due care.

Mayorga's bond was set at $3,200, which he has not posted yet.