Hialeah mayor pleads not guilty to traffic tickets after police-light incident

Hialeah admin August 14, 2026 0 Comments

Hialeah mayor pleads not guilty to traffic tickets after police-light incident

Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo pleaded not guilty Friday to two traffic citations stemming from an illegal left turn in Mami while driving a Hialeah police vehicle and activating its emergency lights after being stopped by Miami police. He requested a trial during the afternoon hearing.

Miami police records show Calvo was pulled over at 11:09 a.m. June 14 in Coconut Grove after making a left turn from a lane designated for right turns only. Officer Yasmani Gonzalez said in body-camera footage obtained by the Miami Herald that Calvo then activated the red and blue emergency lights mounted on the rear of the black Chevrolet he was driving.

The encounter began when Gonzalez stopped Calvo for the illegal turn. According to the officer, Calvo activated the vehicle’s emergency lights after the traffic stop was already under way, appearing to use the lights to avoid being stopped for the infraction.

“You engaged your police lights for me not to go after you, after you committed an infraction,” Gonzalez told Calvo during the stop.

Calvo said the vehicle belonged to him and added, “I was pulling over because I thought that you were doing something.”

Gonzalez pushed back on the explanation, warning Calvo that activating the emergency lights could have criminal consequences.

When Gonzalez asked for if Calvo was driving a police car, he responded, “This is, I’m an elected official,” before presenting identification.

“I don’t care if you’re the mayor,” Gonzalez said. “If I’m stopping you, and you’re not a police officer, you need to stop and not engage your police lights.”

Gonzalez warned Calvo that, because he was not a sworn police officer, using a vehicle equipped with emergency lights could potentially result in prison time under a state statute that makes it a third degree felony to falsely pretend to be a law enforcement officer. But Calvo was not arrested. The officer issued two traffic citations instead.

After the traffic stop, municipal attorneys told the Herald that Calvo’s actions could raise ethics questions. However, the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust declined to comment when asked about the incident.

Before Friday’s hearing, Calvo had already entered not-guilty pleas to both citations, which carry a combined $308 in fines, according to Miami-Dade County court records. The citations list the violations as “Traffic Control Device — Fail to Obey Traffic Control Device (Sign)” and “Prohibited Lights on Vehicle — Red/Blue/Flashing.”

When the Herald first reported on the infractions in June, Calvo issued a statement through his spokesperson saying: “I was issued two civil traffic citations while operating a city-owned vehicle assigned to me as mayor. One citation relates to a traffic maneuver and the second concerns equipment that was installed on a vehicle owned by and registered to the Hialeah Police Department, a vehicle that was retrofitted before I took office and before the vehicle was assigned to me.”

Calvo has not issued any additional statements.