Hialeah councilman’s family sues city, former mayor over raid of their strip club
Close family members of Hialeah Council Member Jesús Tundidor are suing the city government and former Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernández for a raid of their strip club two years ago.
According to the civil suit filed in federal court, the action carried out by the Hialeah Police under the orders of then-mayor Hernández was “retaliation for the Tundidors’ support of a family member’s unsanctioned bid for political office in Hialeah”.
“Using his political machine and the resources available to him as mayor, Hernández acted as a powerful gatekeeper of the seven seats on the City Council,” the lawsuit states. It was filed by James Tundidor Sr., James Tundidor Jr. and Dulce Tundidor, the council member’s stepmother,
Hernández told el Nuevo Herald that “for now I have no comment on this. I have to review it to be able to give my opinion.”
The new city administration, under the leadership of Mayor Esteban Bovo Jr., said that they just found out about the lawsuit.
“We have to let the legal process take its course,” said Ismare Monreal, Bovo’s chief of staff. “We are going to seek legal representation, but the city does not have a definitive position on the matter. These are events that happened before our time.”
The lawsuit says there was no warrant or probable cause to justify the July 25, 2019, raid on the establishment, Bellas Cabaret, 885 S.E. 14th St.
According to the lawsuit, to maximize the punitive and political value of the raid, “as part of a human trafficking investigation, planning and execution was recorded by a local television station camera crew, and over a dozen officers outfitted in tactical equipment, bulletproof vests”.
“Sensationalized footage of the unlawful raid – in which a police commander referenced its purpose as combating prostitution, human trafficking and drugs – was aired locally and posted online. The commander’s baseless and incendiary remarks became the tag line for the political opposition [to Tundidor] that was orchestrated by and funded in collaboration with Mayor Hernandez,” the complaint states.
The suit claims city inspectors used “illegal access provided without a warrant” to identify violations that they later used to shut down the business. The Hialeah Fire Department had generated a report detailing 14 fire code violations.
The nightclub was forced to remain closed until Jan. 20, 2020. It then reopened “under strict conditions imposed” by the city, the suit says.
Relying on the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution, which protect the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy and the right to be free from arbitrary searches, the lawsuit claims both Hernández and the City of Hialeah violated the owners’ constitutional rights to free expression and against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The Tundidors are asking for compensation for loss of earnings, damages to reputation and emotional anguish, as well as attorneys’ fees.
Confrontation between Hernández and Tundidor
Councilman Tundidor began his career in local government in 2017 as a member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Board. Previously Tundidor had been senior legislative aide for then-state Sen. René García.
Tundidor wanted to run for the council in 2017, but Hernández denied his support, asking him to wait until 2019, the lawsuit says.
The suit says Tundidor once again requested the mayor’s approval to run in 2018. The mayor denied it again, but this time Tundidor went ahead and ran anyway.
The suit claims Hernández “actively discouraged” Tundidor from running, “threatened the Tundidors’ businesses directly and through intermediaries, and turned his political machine against them using the power and resources of the City of Hialeah.”
Tundidor was elected to the council in November 2019, defeating Luis González, the candidate who was supported by Hernández.
Tundidor ran for a new term this year. The election was to take place in November, but Tundidor won when no one filed to run against him when candidate registration ended this week.
