After testifying against Carollo, fired Miami police chief says private eyes tailed him

Not long after leaving federal court Tuesday afternoon, former Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo — a star witness in a multimillion-dollar civil suit against Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo — got the sense he was being followed.

Turns out he apparently was — by two private detectives, according to a report filed by Coral Gables police.

Exactly why remained murky Wednesday, as did who might have hired them to tail Acevedo. But the incident was the latest bizarre episode in the ongoing Miami political dramas surrounding Carollo, Miami’s most controversial and longest-tenured commissioner.

In a statement to the Miami Herald, Acevedo called it a clear attempt to “harass and intimidate me as a witness.”

“The integrity of our court system depends on the protection of witnesses and other case participants,” he said in the statement. “A full investigation should be conducted to uncover the truth as to who hired these individuals and the motive behind their actions.”

Carollo, who led the charge to fire Acevedo in 2021, has been sued by two of Little Havana’s largest commercial property owners, who claim he abused his authority by using city resources to go after their businesses in a political retaliation for supporting another candidate in a 2017 election. They’re seeking $2.4 million and punitive damages.

On Tuesday, Acevedo was one of three former Miami police chiefs who testified about the Miami commissioner pressuring them to crack down on properties run by William Fuller and Martin Pinilla, who own a string of Calle Ocho businesses, including the Ball & Chain club.

According to the Coral Gables police report, Acevedo and his attorney Marcos Jimenez had gone from court to La Casita Restaurant at 3805 SW Eighth Street just before 6 p.m., when Miami’s former chief noticed a white GMC Arcadia and a black Jeep Cherokee enter the parking lot.

Acevedo called Gables police and told them he noticed the vehicles following him throughout the day and “was in fear not knowing who these individuals were or what their intent was towards them.”

According to the incident report, Donald Blair and Bryan Austin Blair, both licensed investigators, were interviewed by police. When police initially questioned them, according to the report, they said they were investigators with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. They later retracted that, the report said, saying they do work for 22 South Florida cities.

The report doesn’t address whether the men were asked if they were following Acevedo. And they didn’t say who, if anyone, hired them. The men did consent to pat downs, then went to their vehicles and came back with Florida Private Investigator licenses, before one of them drove off and the other went inside to eat.

In a video reviewed by the Miami Herald, Acevedo makes it very clear he was concerned he was being followed from just outside Miami’s federal courthouse to the Coral Gables restaurant, and that the GMC truck and the Jeep were involved.

Calls and texts to both men and their company were not returned Wednesday. One number listed said it had been disconnected. The company’s website and Bryan Blair’s LinkedIn page say he works at the Claims Investigative Agency, which has more than 40 years of experience, specializes in surveillance and represents both sides in insurance disputes.

Carollo’s legal team reviewed the incident report but declined to comment late Wednesday.

Carollo and Acevedo, who is now chief in Aurora, Colorado, had been at loggerheads almost since the day of his ballyhooed hiring in March 2021 from Houston. The two got into several heated public spats during Acevedo’s short six-month stay. He was forced out after several days of public hearings in which commissioners, led by Carollo, belittled the chief before firing him.

During Acevedo’s testimony on Tuesday, Carollo’s attorney Mason Pertnoy argued that the fired chief had “an ax to grind” and also discussed a letter Acevedo had sent to federal authorities about “corruption” in Miami.

With the trial in its second week before U.S. District Court Judge Rodney Smith on Wednesday, it wasn’t clear how, or even if the incident in Coral Gables would effect the trial — or even if it had anything to do with it.