MIAMI – A former Miami Beach police officer has been sentenced to 18 months after striking and seriously injuring two people while joy-riding with a woman on the beach using a police all-terrain vehicle.
The judge on Thursday said Derick Kuilan's actions showed wanton disregard for others' safety.
Kuilan was convicted last month of reckless driving with serious bodily injury but acquitted of driving under the influence. Prosecutors say Kuilan had an elevated blood-alcohol level in 2011 when he invited a woman at a South Beach nightclub bachelorette party to take the beach ATV ride.
He did not testify during the trial but expressed deep remorse during sentencing, saying he thinks of the victims daily and admitted using poor judgment. But he says he's not the animal the media has portrayed him to be.
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