Hollywood Blues

As a result, Ruiz filed a lawsuit of her own. In March 1997, a jury awarded her $100,000, plus legal fees. "What gets me," Ruiz says today, "is all the money that has been paid out because of Kevin Companion. Nothing has happened to him."

Through Fortunato's and Ruiz's lawsuits, Companion cost the city $544,511 in settlements and legal fees. He has since been promoted to detective.

Ruiz went back to work following the lawsuit, though her duty assignments weren't the cherry ones. "I got the fishbowl a lot," she says, referring to the department's reception desk.

The boys' animosity toward Ruiz was palpable and spilled over into everyday conversations. Ruiz's status as cop non grata was apparent, she says, in needling comments about her alleged penchant for hiring an attorney to represent her for personnel issues.

Officer Frank Horne joked during one lineup, according to an internal memo: "Cyndi, I need your lawyer's name," suggesting that a good attorney would get him a choice assignment to a team of contestants in a departmental competition with cash prizes.

On March 30, 2002, according to an internal police memo, an arrestee overheard Ruiz's supervisor, Sgt. Lyle Bien, say of the officer: "She is a bitch, and she can go fuck herself."

The department was looking for any reason to hang her, Ruiz claims. In 2002, she gave them one. Following a doctor's appointment, she was unable to drive her police cruiser home. Instead of having another officer pick up the vehicle, she broke procedure and allowed her second husband, Ben Ruiz, a Hialeah firefighter, to drive it home.

Chief James H. Scarberry took away her cruiser and assigned her to the police academy as an instructor. For Ruiz, who suffers from dyslexia, the punishment was tantamount to slow torture. "I told him that there couldn't be a worse place for me," Ruiz says.

She made the best of the academy, but in July 2004, her career finally fell apart. Two academy cadets alleged that Ruiz made sexual advances toward them. She denies the charges, claiming that the cadets were upset that they did not receive the grades they wanted.

Hollywood's Internal Affairs unit launched an investigation and took away Ruiz's gun and badge. For the past year, Ruiz has been suspended with pay. Although the IA investigation was inconclusive, the department has not reinstated Ruiz.

The punishment seems unfair compared to the way other officers are disciplined in Hollywood, she says. "I have no problems with drinking or domestic violence," Ruiz says. On June 30, New Times reported how improperly hired officers involved in reckless driving, domestic violence, and drug use have received only light punishments and remain on the force.

Capt. Tony Rode, a spokesman for the department, said he couldn't comment on the specifics of Ruiz's personnel issues. "But I know there's no love lost between Cyndi and the city," he admitted.

Last month, Ruiz and her attorney negotiated a settlement with the City of Hollywood. She'll retire on September 30 and finally leave the boys club behind. Even now, as she nears 50, Ruiz hopes to start over again as an officer at another local law enforcement agency.

"I'm a good cop," she says. "Hollywood can't take that away from me."

Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of articles about the Hollywood Police Department. You can read others at www.newtimesbpb.com/special_reports/hollywood.