{"id":329541,"date":"2026-07-04T21:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T21:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/329541\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T21:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T21:55:14","slug":"miami-police-body-cam-shows-calvo-confronted-over-use-of-police-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/329541\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Police body cam shows Calvo confronted over use of police lights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Newly released body camera footage from the Miami Police Department shows an officer questioning Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo during a traffic stop about why the vehicle he was driving was equipped with police emergency lights and why those lights were activated after the officer stopped him.<\/p>\n<p>According to Miami Police records, Calvo was stopped on June 14 at 11:09 a.m. on Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove after failing to obey a right-turn-only traffic control device and then activating red and blue emergency lights on the rear of the black Chevrolet he was driving, later identified as a Hialeah Police Department vehicle. The officer gave the mayor two traffic tickets.<\/p>\n<p>Miami-Dade court records show Calvo has pleaded not guilty to both citations, which carry a combined $308 in fines. A pretrial hearing is expected, though a date had not been set. He entered the not-guilty pleas shortly after the citations became available online, two days after the stop.<\/p>\n<p>The encounter began after Officer Yasmani Gonzalez attempted to stop Calvo for making a left turn from a lane designated for right turns only. According to the officer, Calvo activated the vehicle\u2019s emergency lights after the traffic stop had already begun.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs this a police car?\u201d Gonzalez asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d Calvo replied.<\/p>\n<p>He was wearing a black long-sleeve shirt with a patch reading \u201cHialeah Police\u201d and was accompanied in the vehicle during the stop by his girlfriend, Melianni Terrero, and their dog.<\/p>\n<p>When the Herald<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/local\/community\/miami-dade\/hialeah\/article316135387.html\"> first reported on the incident<\/a>, Calvo issued a statement through a spokesperson saying: \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Calvo has not issued any additional public statements following the release of the body camera footage.<\/p>\n<p>                                          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Calvo stopped in Miami.png\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"757\" title=\"Calvo stopped in Miami.png\" alt=\"Miami Police body camera footage shows a June 14 traffic stop involving Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo and Officer Yasmani Gonzalez, during which the officer pulled Calvo over for an alleged illegal left turn and questioned him after Calvo activated red and blue police lights on the vehicle after the stop had already begun.\"\/>                                                                                    Miami Police body camera footage shows a June 14 traffic stop involving Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo and Officer Yasmani Gonzalez, during which the officer pulled Calvo over for an alleged illegal left turn and questioned him after Calvo activated red and blue police lights on the vehicle after the stop had already begun.                                                                                                                                                                        Miami Police Department                                                                                        \u2018I\u2019m an elected official&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>When Gonzalez asked again if Calvo was driving a police car, he responded, \u201cThis is, I\u2019m an elected official,\u201d before presenting identification.<\/p>\n<p>Gonzalez then questioned why the vehicle was equipped with emergency lights and why they had been activated during the stop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou engaged your police lights for me not to go after you, after you committed an infraction,\u201d the officer told Calvo.<\/p>\n<p>Calvo said it was his car, and then told the officer, \u201cI was pulling over because I thought that you were doing something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gonzalez appeared, based on his tone, to be frustrated with the explanation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou engaged your police lights. That right there is a criminal offense; I can take you to jail very easily,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cI don\u2019t care if you\u2019re the mayor. If I\u2019m stopping you, and you\u2019re not a police officer, you need to stop and not engage your police lights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gonzalez then returned to his police vehicle to review Calvo\u2019s identification and registration. After a phone call lasting more than 16 minutes, according to the body-cam footage, during which audio was muted, he returned and issued the tickets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou made an improper left turn,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cYou activated your lights after I conducted the stop. At that point, the lights didn\u2019t seem like it was an official police car.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gonzalez added that, because Calvo is not a sworn law enforcement officer, operating a vehicle displaying emergency lights could carry more serious legal consequences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously, you\u2019re not a police officer\u2026 that could be a third-degree felony under Florida Statute 843.08,\u201d the officer told Calvo, who is an attorney.<\/p>\n<p>The statute in question relates to situations in which a person falsely assumes or pretends to be a firefighter, sheriff, Florida Highway Patrol officer, police officer, or some other law enforcement official.<\/p>\n<p>The officer also noted that in Miami, officials who use police vehicles are typically accompanied by sworn officers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor that reason, you are going to receive two citations today,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n<p>Municipal attorneys told the Herald after the incident that the conduct could raise ethics concerns. Asked about that possibility, the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>The case remains pending in Miami-Dade court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"summary gray\">This story was originally published July 2, 2026 at 4:47 PM.<\/p>\n<p>        Related Stories from  Miami Herald<\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/profile\/258301693\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Veronica Egui Brito photo carnet - copia.jpeg\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" alt=\"Profile Image of Ver\u00f3nica Egui Brito\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/profile\/258301693\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ver\u00f3nica Egui Brito<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    el Nuevo Herald<\/p>\n<p>            Ver\u00f3nica Egui Brito ha profundizado en temas sociales apremiantes y de derechos humanos. Cubre noticias dentro de la vibrante ciudad de Hialeah y sus alrededores para el Nuevo Herald y el Miami Herald. Se uni\u00f3 al Herald en 2022. Ver\u00f3nica Egui Brito has delved into pressing social, and human rights issues. She covers news within the vibrant city of Hialeah, and its surrounding areas for el Nuevo Herald, and the Miami Herald. Joined the Herald in 2022.\n            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newly released body camera footage from the Miami Police Department shows an officer questioning Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-329541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}