A Florida mayor was caught illegally driving a police car and using its flashing blue lights for a VIP traffic experience.  

Newly released body camera footage shows Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo, 28, being pulled over by a Miami police officer, after Calvo allegedly made an improper left turn in Coconut Grove, Miami at 11.30am on June 14.

But what began as a routine traffic stop quickly escalated when officer Yasmani Gonzalez noticed the black Chevrolet SUV Calvo was driving was fitted with flashing red and blue police lights.

‘Is this a police car? Is this your personal?’ the officer interrogates in the footage.

‘I’m an elected official,’ retorted Calvo, whose mayorship is non-partisan.

The response did little to impress the officer.

‘You turned on your police lights,’ the officer told him. ‘That’s a criminal offense, and I can easily take you to jail.'

The tense roadside exchange continued as the officer delivered a reminder that holding an elected office position does not entitle him to lawless behavior.

‘I don’t care if you’re the mayor,’ Gonzalez slammed. ‘If you’re not a police officer, don’t activate police lights.’

The officer then warned Calvo that he was driving a police vehicle despite not being a sworn law enforcement officer. 

Gonzalez proceeded to threaten jail time, saying, 'that right there could be a third-degree felony.’

However rather than making an arrest, the officer issued Calvo two citations - one for the improper left turn and another for having prohibited emergency lights on the vehicle. 

Court records show the mayor has pleaded not guilty to both violations. It also remains unclear whether Calvo is still driving the SUV.

The footage has also launched fresh questions over why the city’s mayor was driving a police-issued SUV equipped with functioning emergency lights.

Florida law generally limits the use of blue lights to authorized emergency vehicles and does not provide a specific exemption for mayors. Although municipalities may authorize rare vehicle assignments or equipment for operational purposes, local policies do not supersede state law.

Driving a city vehicle equipped with police-style equipment could be interpreted as the impersonation of a police officer, even if emergency lights were not activated and is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Persistently denying any wrongdoing, Calvo has insisted the SUV belonged to the Hialeah Police Department and that the emergency equipment had been installed long before he took office.

In a statement he penned, ‘One citation relates to a traffic maneuver and the second concerns equipment that was installed on a vehicle owned by and registered to the Hialeah Police Department, a vehicle that was refitted before I took office and before the vehicle was assigned to me.’ 

The blue lights incident was not Calvo's first run-in with the law. 

In July 2023, while serving as a Hialeah council member, Calvo was stopped by a Hialeah Police officer for allegedly failing to stop at a traffic signal while driving a red Tesla, according to Hialeah Police Department records.

The case bore a civil penalty of $277. However, Miami-Dade Clerk of Court records reveal the case was swiftly dropped at the request of the citing officer.

While the earlier citation did not involve allegations as serious as those raised during the June stop, the repeat run-in is likely to fuel mounting scrutiny over the driving conduct of one of South Florida’s highest-profile elected officials.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Miami Police Department and the City of Hialeah Mayor's Office for comment.