Exclusive: Questions Growing Over Mayor's Crash
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MIAMI LAKES (CBSMiami) – More questions have been raised in regards to an accident involving Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi.
Witnesses said Mayor Pizzi left the scene of the accident and did not call police. There are inconsistencies between what the mayor told investigators and what he told CBS4's Gary Nelson.
Pizzi was his flamboyant self at a hurricane preps event last week, but questions about Pizzi running his car into a tree fifteen days ago continue to grow like the spreading branches of an oak.
CBS4 News obtained a taped interview Pizzi gave police, nearly two hours after he hit the tree and left the scene.
Where had he been?
Pizzi said in the video, "I was at city hall. I had a bunch of meetings with my staff and my intern."
He didn't tell cops about his stop at the bar of the Cancun Grill. It's a stop confirmed by CBS4 News, something Pizzi couldn't remember when asked about it last week.
"Straight answer, surely you remember if you were at the Cancun Grill," asked Nelson.
"No," responded Pizzi.
"You do not remember if you were at the Cancun Grill," asked Nelson.
"No, no," responded Pizzi who insists he had nothing to drink.
He told police he left the scene to call a tow truck.
"I'm kind of like right next door to my house. I went to my friend's house and asked him to call a tow truck," said Pizzi.
Actually Pizzi doesn't live across the street from the collision site, but nearly three quarters of a mile away. Then there was the cell phone.
"I was on my way home.I got a couple of text messages, a couple of phone calls," said Pizzi.
But when Nelson asked him about using his cell to call for help, rather than leaving the scene, Pizzi said "My cell phone was inoperable.My cell phone was inoperable. I didn't have it with me."
That's not what he told the cops.
"My phone never stops ringing. I got a number of phone calls, a number of text messages. I might have been a little distracted," said Pizzi.
What about his seatbelt?
"Were you wearing your seat belt," asked Nelson.
"Yeah," responded Pizzi.
The police report concluded due to the injuries that Pizzi sustained, it was evident that he was not wearing his seatbelt.
The mayor wasn't charged with not wearing his seat belt, not charged with careless driving and texting while driving, not charged with leaving the scene, or failing to call police.
Miami-Dade Police said the officers exercised their "discretion" but some say it doesn't pass the smell test.
"Due to your report and due to what seems to be the facts of this case, I'm extremely concerned," said Miami Lakes Activist Michael Mut.
The town council on Wednesday night will consider asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to investigate Miami-Dade's handling of the mayor's run in with the tree.
Mayor Pizzi did not return our messages seeking comment on Tuesday. He has said the call for an outside investigation is motivated by politics.
