Mayor of Coral Gables acquitted of assault on city manager in City Hall ‘incident’

An investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has found that Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago did not assault City Manager Amos Rojas Jr. during an “incident” between the two men at City Hall in June.

The FDLE had been investigating a complaint from Rojas, a retired FDLE agent, that Lago assaulted him during a meeting, according to a closing memorandum from the Miami-Dade District Attorney's Office obtained by the Miami Herald. In the memo, signed last week, prosecutors agreed with the FDLE's conclusion that “the facts did not meet the elements of an assault” and said the matter was now closed.

The memo shows that the incident was at one point investigated as second-degree assault, a crime punishable in Florida by a fine of up to $500 and up to 60 days in jail.

Lago did not respond to a request for comment from the Herald. Rojas did not respond to an email sent to both him and city spokeswoman Martha Pantin. Pantin declined to comment on the matter, but only confirmed that the investigation was complete and no charges had been filed.

A Coral Gables police spokeswoman said Wednesday morning that she could not comment on the matter because the FDLE had not yet confirmed to police that the investigation was complete. The FDLE did not respond to the Herald's request for comment.

The incident, which occurred during a meeting at City Hall on June 3, came during a year of political unrest in Lago and drew attention to divisions within the city's leadership structure. Rojas was appointed city manager in February, just two weeks after the City Commission voted to fire then-City Manager Peter Iglesias, whom the mayor had supported.

Rojas was appointed by a narrow 3-2 vote, with Lago voting against. The mayor claimed Rojas' appointment violated Florida's Sunshine Law, which Rojas denied.

Lago also survived a recall attempt earlier this year. The recall attempt, which fell 120 signatures short in April, fueled division at an already politically contentious time in the city.

In a statement in June, Lago called the City Hall incident an example of “political theater” by the city manager. In his own statement at the time, Rojas said he had “always tried to work collegially with my colleagues and superiors” but declined to comment on the incident itself.