Miami Beach candidate had to turn over guns after claim they weren’t stored safely

A judge ordered David V. Suarez to temporarily surrender at least a dozen guns and his concealed weapons permit to police in 2020 after photographs showed his young child “in close proximity to a variety of different weapons while in the care of his father,” according to court records.

Suarez, the marketing director for a skincare company and a community activist against short-term rentals who is running for Miami Beach City Commission on Nov. 7, testified in a divorce and custody case in Broward County that all of his guns had added locks and that an image purporting to show his child in a bathroom with a gun on the floor was actually only one part of a gun.

Records show Suarez, 39, complied with the judge’s order to turn over his firearms — seven handguns and five “long guns,” including an AR-15, according to court records — along with his concealed weapons permit, ammunition and other firearm components to Hollywood police.

Suarez is seeking the City Commission’s Group 5 seat, which is being vacated by Ricky Arriola due to term limits. His opponent is Mitch Novick, a South Beach hotel owner.

Both candidates have stressed cracking down on crime as a critical part of their platforms. Public safety is among the top issues in an election in which Miami Beach voters will pick a new mayor and three new commissioners, particularly after gun violence has erupted during spring break on Ocean Drive in each of the past two years.

Gun safety also became a magnified campaign issue last month after mayoral candidate Mike Grieco left a bag unattended with a loaded gun inside at a local dog park, drawing criticism from opponents.

Suarez announced last week that the city’s Fraternal Order of Police had endorsed his campaign.

“As a father, husband, and resident that loves our city, count on me to make public safety and support of our police officers as my top priority on the City Commission,” Suarez wrote on Facebook.

Judge was ‘very concerned’

In a November 2020 order related to a custody proceeding, Broward County Circuit Judge Michael Davis wrote that he was “very concerned about the allegations that [Suarez’s] child was in close proximity to loaded weapons on multiple occasions.”

“The court finds the child should have no access to weapons and there will be zero tolerance for the Former Husband’s continued exposure of the child to guns or ammunition,” Davis wrote.

The judge said police could return the weapons to Suarez in March 2021 after Suarez certified he had completed court-ordered gun safety classes. Suarez later said in court filings that he had purchased safes after the judge’s order to ensure his guns would be better protected in the future.

In one court filing, Suarez’s ex-wife said she had “always been concerned about [Suarez’s] obsession with firearms.”

Responding to his ex-wife’s claims, Suarez said in court that they were all “either completely fabricated or grossly embellished.” The divorce was finalized in July 2020 and custody matters were resolved in January 2022.

Suarez is “a dedicated and good father,” David Custin, a political consultant for Suarez, said in a text message to the Miami Herald. “He has a positive co-parenting relationship with his ex-wife,” Custin said.

Suarez’s ex-wife did not respond to a request for comment.

Suarez did not respond to an interview request or emailed questions from the Herald, including questions about how the experience in court and his perspective as a gun owner would shape his approach to gun-related issues as a city commissioner.

He also didn’t respond to an inquiry about records in the divorce proceedings that show Suarez wanted to keep his child enrolled at Centner Academy in Miami in 2021 after the school had sparked controversy for saying it wouldn’t employ teachers who were vaccinated against COVID-19.

Not ‘some right-wing extremist’

Suarez’s ex-wife first flagged concerns about their child’s potential exposure to firearms in an October 2020 court filing, claiming Suarez was violating terms of their separation agreement that required any guns to be stored in a locked safe. The claims were made as part of an appeal to modify the terms of a custody plan.

On multiple occasions, she said, she “observed a loaded assault weapon in the back seat” of Suarez’s car, stored under a floor mat “directly under the child’s car seat.” The child had recently turned 4, she said.

Suarez said in a court filing that the allegations appeared to be “a vehicle for [his ex-wife] to air all of her grievances with [Suarez’s] parenting style and his way of life.”

Elections in Miami Beach are nonpartisan. But the city is seen as one of the most liberal in South Florida.

Asked about his political views last month during an interview with the Miami Herald Editorial Board, Suarez noted that he has no party affiliation. Records show he left the Republican Party in 2021.

Suarez said in that interview that local issues are what’s most important to his campaign. In recent years, he led a charge against short-term rentals in Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood as part of an effort to protect residents’ quality of life.

“What I don’t want to do is sort of have you ... paint me as some right-wing extremist,” he said. “If you’re asking me about my national leanings, I want to stick to the issues of Miami Beach. I want to stick to over-development, traffic, the environment — I think those are all big issues that Miami Beach truly cares about.”