MIAMI, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The Florida Highway Patrol says it is investigating whether feces dumped on one of its patrol cars stemmed from a trooper's arrest of a Miami police officer.

Highway Patrol union chief William Smith said the cruiser used by Trooper Joe Sanchez was found covered in feces outside his home Sunday, WPLG-TV, Miami, reported Wednesday. Sanchez held a seat on the Miami City Commission for a decade.


Smith said the human feces looked "like it might have come out of one of the Port-O-Potties you see around at construction sites."

Smith said investigators are looking into whether the incident was connected to a recent controversy with Miami police. Trooper Donna Watts pulled over Miami police officer Fausto Lopez at gunpoint in a patrol car last month after he allegedly weaved in and out of traffic at 120 mph while en route to an off-duty job.

"Some people go 'Oh, it's got to be the city of Miami.' No, it doesn't. It could have been a disgruntled neighbor for all we know. It could have been anybody," Smith said. "It could have been a cousin of a cousin who has a friend who is in law enforcement and he felt like he needed to show his displeasure with what happened last month."

Highway Patrol investigators said the incident may have been an act of retaliation, but they do not believe a Miami police officer was behind the feces-dumping.