Miami City Commission candidate facing gun charge after argument over campaign signs
Frank Pichel, a longtime Miami political figure and former cop running for a Miami City Commission seat in November, was taken into custody this weekend and charged Monday with aggravated assault with a firearm for allegedly pulling a gun against the campaign worker of an opponent.
Pichel’s main opponent for Miami’s District 1 commission seat: Alex Díaz de la Portilla, the incumbent commissioner who was suspended from office just last month by Gov. Ron DeSantis after being arrested on public corruption charges.
The alleged incident took place Sunday afternoon at or near the Pearl Apartment complex on Northwest 17th Avenue and 33rd Street and involved an argument over an election sign. According to Pichel’s arrest report, police obtained video that showed him taking his gun from his waistband, racking it and holding it at his side.
A witness told police they saw Pichel pulling Díaz de la Portilla campaign yard signs out of the ground and tossing them around. The witness told police that Pichel, when approached by a campaign worker, said in Spanish, “I’ll shoot you and nothing is going to happen to me because I used to be a police officer.”
After speaking with witnesses and viewing closed-circuit video surveillance of the incident, police eventually found Pichel at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where, the report says, he had gone after feeling ill. There, he refused to speak with officers and was arrested.
By 9 a.m. Monday, Pichel’s mugshot still had not appeared on the Miami-Dade Corrections website. Attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.
Pichel is currently running for the city’s District 1 commission seat against four opponents, including Díaz de la Portilla, 59, who was arrested in September and accused of engaging in illegal campaign activity from previous elections, and also of selling his vote in exchange for gifts and political contributions. Díaz de la Portilla has pleaded not guilty and vowed to continue campaigning. Election Day is Nov. 7.
Also in the race to represent Allapattah, Flagami, Grapeland Heights, the Health District and parts of Little Havana: Miguel Angel Gabela, Mercedes “Merci” Rodriguez and Marvin Tapia.
Pichel, a former cop, is a well-known political figure in Miami circles.
In 2000, he was suspended from the Miami police department after being accused of instructing a public service aide to file a false police report to cover up a police beating that led to a prisoner’s death. Prosecutors never charged Pichel, who was a sergeant at the time.
Then in 2008, when he was sergeant-at-arms at City Hall, tasked with protecting Miami’s elected officials, he was accused of selling small amounts of steroids and Cialis, the erectile dysfunction drug. Prosecutors later dropped felony charges as part of a plea deal in which Pichel agreed to give up his police certification.
Pichel ran for a commission seat in 2019, losing to Diaz de la Portilla.
He also lost a race in 2021 for mayor against Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. That year, Pichel was listed on an arrest warrant in Monroe County for allegedly flashing a badge and claiming to be a Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputy while he was parked near a location where Suarez was staying in the Florida Keys. Pichel, who at the time was running against Suarez, wasn’t charged.
This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 10:00 AM.
