Miami Mayor Spends Night in Jail
By The Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) -- Mayor Joe Carollo posted $1,500 bond and was released from jail Thursday after spending the night behind bars on charges that he threw a tea canister at his wife, hitting her in the head.
Carollo, 45, spent a full day in solitary confinement after his arrest Wednesday on a charge of misdemeanor simple battery.
He did not speak to reporters as his driver whisked him away.
"The mayor will resume running the city very shortly," attorney Evan Marks said before the release. "He looks forward to seeing his children and getting back to running the city." ...
Several Carollo supporters attended a hearing on the case Thursday, encouraged by radio stations who claimed police were persecuting the mayor because of his criticism of the department following the federal government's seizure of Elian Gonzalez, the little Cuban boy, last year.
"I don't know what happened, but he shouldn't be arrested. It's just a family problem," supporter Perpetera Romero said.
The mayor was kept at the North Dade Detention Center in a 6-by-6-foot cell with a TV, but no windows.
Ben Kuehne, the mayor's attorney, complained Thursday that the jailing violated a pre-arrest agreement with police and prosecutors that Carollo would be charged, given an emergency bond hearing and released.
"He was treated specially -- much worse than the average citizen was treated," Kuehne said. "That's the thanks a public official gets in our community." ...
Police arrested Carollo hours after a girl identified by police as one of the couple's two daughters made a frantic call to 911 at 7:10 a.m., saying: "Come help! My dad is hurting my mom."
According to the arrest report, the dispute was over by the time officers arrived at the mayor's home, but Mrs. Carollo had a golf ball-sized lump on her left temple. Carollo had two scratches behind his left ear. ...
Carollo, who has been called "Crazy Joe" by newspaper columnists for his confrontational style with opponents, has said he would not run for re-election in November.
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Carl
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