Aide to new Miami Beach mayor resigns after arrest over dispute with ex-girlfriend
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An aide to newly elected Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner has resigned, a city spokesperson said Friday, following the aide’s arrest earlier this month on charges related to a dispute with his ex-girlfriend.
Robert Novo, who had recently been announced as Meiner’s incoming deputy chief of staff, was placed on administrative leave after his Dec. 2 arrest and resigned Thursday, according to city spokesperson Melissa Berthier.
Novo, 31, had served as Meiner’s legislative aide when Meiner was a city commissioner and helped run his campaign for mayor this year.
After Meiner was sworn in as mayor Nov. 28, he announced Novo would serve as his deputy chief of staff.
“We are prepared to defend Robert against these accusations with the truth of what occurred and hope for a speedy resolution so he can move on,” Novo’s attorney, Jean-Michel D’Escoubet, said in a statement Friday. Novo and Meiner could not immediately be reached.
Novo was charged with felony robbery with sudden snatching and misdemeanor battery after he was arrested by Miami police in Southwest Miami-Dade County. He has pleaded not guilty, court records show.
According to an arrest report, Novo and his ex-girlfriend had met up to exchange belongings. The ex-girlfriend told police Novo became angry when she began recording him during the exchange. She said Novo “forcefully” grabbed her phone and pushed her chest when she tried to retrieve it.
The report says the woman then tried to grab a pair of keys from Novo’s hand, and that, as she tried to pick the keys up from the floor, Novo “kicked her and stepped on her fingers.”
After Novo drove back to their shared residence to gather the rest of his belongings, police drove to the residence and arrested Novo there.
Novo told police he and his ex-girlfriend had “engaged in a physical altercation,” but that “she initiated the attack by exiting her vehicle and assaulting him,” according to the report.
The details of Novo’s arrest were first reported Thursday by WSVN.
The resignation of one of Meiner’s top aides is an early blemish in the new mayor’s tenure. Meiner ran on a tough-on-crime platform and was elected despite being significantly outspent by his opponents.
