Miami Beach commissioner’s brother-in-law arrested after sign-stealing claim

The brother-in-law of a Miami Beach city commissioner was arrested early Tuesday for driving an unregistered golf cart that belonged to the commissioner after allegedly taking part in an effort to remove campaign signs on Election Day.

Dennis Collazo, Jr., 28, whose sister is married to Commissioner David Suarez, was charged around 2 a.m. with operating an unregistered vehicle on a public roadway, according to a police report.

Miami Beach police said they reviewed video that showed someone “tossing a campaign sign over a gate” before entering a black car that drove away. That vehicle, the report says, “was later determined to be driven by Commissioner David Suarez.”

Police also said they reviewed video of Collazo “removing a campaign sign for Commissioner [Laura] Dominguez and replacing it with one for Fred Karlton.”

The Miami Herald reviewed that footage, which shows a man appearing to remove a Dominguez campaign sign from an area next to the sidewalk at Abbott Avenue and 72nd Street, then tossing it aside before putting up a sign for Karlton, Dominguez’s opponent in the Group II commission race.

Moments later, the video shows a second man pulling up in a golf cart and picking up the first man before driving away.

The footage was captured by an aide to Dominguez, Julien Desrois, according to the police report. The recording begins from inside a car across the street, before Desrois gets out of the car and walks toward the two men before they drove away in the golf cart, which was full of Karlton signs.

According to the report, Desrois was leaving the gym when he noticed people “removing campaign signs and tossing them around.” He called police and spoke to officers as he followed the group south on Collins Avenue. Police pulled over the golf cart on Collins near 45th Street, the report says.

Collazo told police that he and the other man “were only putting up campaign signs” and that the two of them “work for Mr. Suarez.” He told officers Suarez was his brother-in-law and was “also assisting them.”

Police bodycam footage released after this story was first published shows officers speaking to Suarez in his car at the scene.

Suarez told an officer that he was putting up signs when the other men called him to say that they were being followed, prompting Suarez to drive over to them. Suarez said he believed the person following them was an aide to Dominguez and said that “apparently, he’s putting signs in front of our signs.”

At one point, he asked officers to include in their report that Desrois was putting up signs on public property, which is illegal in Miami Beach.

The commissioner also told police that the golf cart belonged to him and was “brand new” and licensed.

The bodycam footage shows an officer driving over to Abbott Avenue and 72nd Street after speaking with Desrois and finding a Dominguez sign in a bush.

Officers initially handcuffed Collazo and told him they were charging him with theft.

But after a lieutenant arrived at the scene, Collazo was released from handcuffs and told that he would not be charged with theft, given that the sign he allegedly removed was on public property and therefore there was “no victim.”

After police told Suarez he was free to go and the commissioner drove away, officers sought information about the golf cart and determined that it was unregistered.

Collazo was taken to the Miami Beach Police Department and issued a promise to appear in court before being released.

Collazo did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Suarez declined to comment.

Desrois did not respond to a request for comment.

The incident occurred just hours before Miami Beach voters made their way to the polls, where the Dominguez vs. Karlton race is one of four on the ballot.

Suarez, who was elected to the Miami Beach City Commission in 2023 and is not on the November ballot, has been heavily involved in trying to unseat Dominguez and get Karlton elected.

Suarez has invested his own money into the effort, running sponsored posts on social media slamming Dominguez’s record and donating $25,000 to a political committee supporting Karlton’s campaign.

Karlton and Dominguez both declined to comment for this story.

This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 3:43 PM.