Tire-slashing and suspicious drones: Coral Gables officials say they’ve been targeted

Coral Gables officials condemned “mafia-like thuggery” in the City Beautiful this week after a series of incidents — including trespassing, tire-slashing and suspicious drone sightings — left them feeling concerned for their safety.

Nearly a year after an election shakeup where the mayor’s chosen candidates were defeated, three city commissioners who have found themselves opposite the mayor and vice mayor on a series of contentious split votes, including this week’s ouster of City Manager Peter Iglesias, say they’ve been the targets of what they believe are politically motivated intimidation efforts.

“There are some who think they can plot and lash out and harm others while hiding in the shadows,” Commissioner Kirk Menendez said Tuesday. “But I’m letting you know now that a light is coming.”

Those safety concerns led Menendez, along with Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez, to request police to escort them from their homes to Tuesday’s City Commission meeting.

That’s the first time city commissioners have requested police escorts for security concerns since Ed Hudak became the city’s police chief nearly a decade ago, Hudak said. But Hudak also said it’s common for city commissioners, past and present, to have concerns about their safety based on social media posts and activity seen on Ring cameras.

“We’ve looked at all of them,” Hudak said. “We’ve taken them seriously. We can’t take a chance.”

However, Hudak said much of what’s been reported “would not rise to what we would categorize as a criminal threat. I can only work on criminal threats.”

In a text message to the Herald, Mayor Vince Lago said Wednesday that the safety of all residents has been his priority since he was elected.

“The allegations made yesterday during the Commission meeting by some of my colleagues are troubling and should be taken seriously,” Lago said. “That is why I asked Chief Hudak to look into the matter expeditiously and report back his findings to the Commission. As a victim of [harassment] and threats in the past, I hope we can get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.”

Allegations of intimidation

The commissioners reported a series of strange incidents in recent months that left them concerned for their safety.

On Jan. 8 — the day before the first City Commission meeting of the year — Menendez reported to police that both tires on the driver’s side of his wife’s vehicle had been deflated, according to a police report. Menendez told the Herald there were puncture holes visible in the tires.

Although both the police report and Hudak said it’s possible the incident occurred as a result of a dispute with neighbors, Menendez believes it could have been politically motivated.

“I think the fact that there had been so many heated votes — the possibility exists that someone somewhere has taken this personally,” he said.

Castro said that in December, she saw a drone hovering outside the 17th-story balcony of her condo. She said she was so close to the drone that she waved at it. Fearing for her safety, she had her daughter stay home from school on the day of the City Commission meeting this week.

“I’m like, it’s Coral Gables,” Castro told the Herald. “I thought it was so clean and beautiful. What a surprise.”

Hudak told the Herald that Castro reported the incident to him about a week later and that by then, there wasn’t much to follow up on.

Fernandez also had a suspicious drone sighting. When he met with Hudak in the police chief’s office last fall, the two of them spotted a drone hovering outside the window, which seemed strange after Castro later reported an unusual drone. But upon further investigation, Hudak said he determined the drone was from the city’s IT department.

Fernandez laid out a series of incidents that date back to his days on the campaign trail last year.

He and Castro both said they have seen vehicles following them in recent months. Fernandez said his Ring camera has also recorded vehicles stopping in front of his home at night for five to 10 seconds before driving off — an occurrence that did not happen before he was a candidate, Fernandez said.

In October, two people trespassed onto his property and attempted to break into his vehicle — an incident that unsettled Fernandez but was eventually determined to have no known connection to his work as a commissioner, according to Fernandez and Hudak. The suspects were later identified and arrested.

And when he was in Tallahassee last week, Fernandez said somebody relayed a concerning message to him through the grapevine: that there was a threat that one of the three commissioners wouldn’t make it to Tuesday’s meeting to vote on the city manager.

“We shouldn’t be in a state where we have to be concerned for our safety and the safety of our families,” Fernandez said.

An X account called @papichulo1265, which recently went private, had made posts disparaging Castro and Fernandez in recent months. The account also posted a photo of Fernandez’s car parked at City Hall, with the license plate visible.

Fernandez took his concerns to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office in December. The agency confirmed to the Herald that the meeting took place but said the “elements of proof necessary to lay a foundation to consider a criminal arrest (on the basis of probable cause as interpreted by the police) or a criminal prosecution were lacking.”

Asked what he thinks is the motivation behind the alleged incidents, Fernandez pointed to Tuesday’s City Commission meeting, where he said developers and members of the city’s political establishment would be losing a city manager “who has been controllable by them.”

“[It] just shows that they don’t want to give up control,” Fernandez said. “Now residents are taking back City Hall.”