911 calls released after Gables steakhouse slap. Video shows cop, attorney on the ground.
Coral Gables Police late Friday released 911 calls they received during Wednesday afternoon’s steakhouse slap of a Miami commissioner that landed a well-known government relations attorney in jail .
They’re not nearly as colorful as the interaction between the two men. Video also released from nearby surveillance cameras doesn’t catch the encounter between Miami City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla and attorney Carlos J. Gimenez, son of U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez.
But the cameras did capture part of a fracas that has been the talk of Miami politics: A Miami police officer holding Gimenez’s blue jacket with both hands before both tumble to the ground. It’s not clear if the two stumbled or if the officer took him down.
There were only three 911 calls. Two of them were from the same person. The first informed the operator of some type of fight at Morton’s Steakhouse on Ponce de Leon Boulevard, with the caller saying two cops in street clothes were there. He called back three minutes later to say more police had arrived.
Another call seemed to be an employee of the steakhouse, a popular lunchtime destination for elected officials, government employees and attorneys.
“So we had a commissioner here. Somebody ran up to him and kind of assaulted him and we have another Coral Gables officer here. He restrained him. So we just need some backup here,” the caller said. As the operator asked questions, the man said, “Oh, it seems there’s a police officer arriving now.”
The operator questioned him some more before the man said “everything’s over. There are like six police officers here. I believe we’re all good.”
Gimenez was arrested Wednesday and charged with battery. Police say Diaz de la Portilla was at a table outside the restaurant when Gimenez walked up to him, said, “Hey p***y, do you remember me,” then slapped him on the back of the head with an open hand.
The city also released footage from three city surveillance cameras near the restaurant. The videos, each about 18 minutes long, don’t show any part of the alleged slap. But two of the videos show Miami Detective Stanley Paul Noel, wearing a black coat and tan slacks, using both hands to hold Gimenez’s blue jacket as the attorney walks backwards and away from the restaurant towards the street corner of Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Miracle Mile.
At one point while Gimenez is backing up, he stumbles to the ground with the much larger officer on top of him. Noel lifts Gimenez up and they go off camera. A garbage can appears to have been knocked over. About four minutes later Coral Gables police begin to show up. Lots of them. There are some handshakes, some back slaps and a hug or two.
Gimenez and his attorney Michael R. Band haven’t spoken publicly since the incident.
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 8:45 PM.
