Former Miami Beach commission candidate, her husband locked up after domestic dispute

Marcella Novela, a recent candidate for the Miami Beach City Commission, was arrested Wednesday morning in a domestic dispute alongside her husband, Miami real estate executive Ricardo Dunin Borkowsky.

Novela, 45, and Dunin Borkowsy, 64, were charged with misdemeanor battery. Both were in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Wednesday night, records show.

Earlier this month, Novela narrowly lost to Joe Magazine in the city commission election. She is an art advisor and curator, chairing the city’s Art in Public Places committee and previously serving on the board of trustees for the Perez Art Museum in Miami.

Dunin is the founder and CEO of Miami-based real estate firm Oak Capital. He was also a founding partner of Lionheart Capital and developed the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Miami Beach.

Around 9:30 a.m., a Miami Beach police officer was called to the pair’s home in relation to a domestic disturbance. According to the emergency call, Dunin was pushed into the pool by Novela and was scared to get out, an incident report read.

The officer found Dunin still standing in the pool with many of his belongings thrown in. Novela was sitting on the edge.

She was detained and had a strong smell of alcohol emanating off her, the report read. She told an officer she had been drinking until 3 a.m.

Novela went on to say that she had been attacked by Dunin inside their master bedroom, grabbed by her throat and pushed into a dresser. She then punched him in the head in self-defense, the report read.

After being pushed onto the bed, she followed him outside to the pool deck. He allegedly said something nasty to her, which she responded to by pushing him into the pool, she told the officer.

According to the report, Novela had a red mark on her neck.

Dunin told officers he was punched in the head by Novela in the bedroom after an argument. He ran outside of the room in fear and onto the pool deck, where he was pushed into the pool by her, he said.

He had a small cut on the right side of his head, the report read.

Police decided to arrest them both for “their actions as mutual combatants.”