Miami, FL
Video shows local political candidate’s arrest at Miami-Dade restaurant
SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. – Witnesses reported a local political candidate slapped one teenager and choked another in public at a restaurant Sunday in Miami-Dade County.
George Bardmesser, a Russian-American attorney who is campaigning for Sunny Isles Beach commissioner, was arrested after the alleged attack at his neighborhood Cuban restaurant.
Sunny Isles Beach police officers responded to El Tropico Cuban Cuisine, at 17020 Collins Ave., and handcuffed Bardness, 59, who wore a shirt promoting his campaign.
“There was a couple of kids sitting and I don’t know whether they were instigating, said something, generated this gentleman to get up. He put a chokehold on one of the kids and slapped another one,” said Pedro Vera, the owner of the restaurant. “He got out of hand. He lost control. It should have never happened.”
Bardmesser sent an invitation Saturday to a Republican coffee meet-up with Greg Capra, another local candidate, at 2 p.m., on Sunday, at the restaurant.
“We welcome all residents, coffee and light snacks will be provided for guests,” he wrote. “I look forward to seeing you there and discussing our ideas and vision for the future.”
Fabiola Stuyvesant, a Venezuelan-American Sunny Isles Beach commissioner, was attending the meet-up with the teenagers Bardmesser allegedly assaulted.
“I would never bring my kids to a political event if I thought I was putting them in harm,” Stuyvesant said. “As a parent, it’s the worst nightmare you could have — to see your child be hurt by a big guy.”
Miami-Dade County inmate records show correctional officers booked Bardmesser, who is about 6-foot, 2-inches tall and weighs about 230 pounds, at about 4:35 p.m., Sunday, at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center near Doral.
Records show Bardmesser was facing two counts of child abuse with no great bodily harm. Records show a Miami-Dade judge had yet to set his bond on Sunday night.
Records also show Bardmesser, who specializes in intellectual property law, has been a New York State Bar member since 1998. He was also a member of the District of Columbia Bar. He is also the author of fictional books in English and Russian.
Sunny Isles Beach, where Bardmesser lives in a beachfront luxury condo, is known as “Little Moscow” because of its growing Russian American population.
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Mercedes Cevallo contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
The Cleveland Browns traded for an extended right tackle, former Houston Texan Tytus Howard, at the start of free agency as they began their rebuild of the offensive line that was awful in 2025. But Howard has played every position on the offensive line except for center, so if it’s all about getting your best five on the field, which it should be, there’s a chance Howard doesn’t play at right tackle in 2026.
While doing a mock draft on Peter Schrager’s podcast, former Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon had the Browns drafting Miami (FL) right tackle sixth overall. He talked about the issue with Howard, but said Mauigoa could either take over the tackle spot or be a really good guard.
Carthon said he knows that Mauigoa would be one of their best five, whether it is at guard or tackle. Some will say that a guy who may be best at guard isn’t worth the sixth overall pick, and I have to disagree. You should draft the best football players, and Francis Mauigoa is my highest-rated offensive lineman and seventh overall. It might be at guard, but I have a good feeling that Mauigoa will find a home in the NFL as a high-quality offensive lineman.
Inventory of homes and condos across the coastal Miami mainland and Miami Beach and the barrier island markets fell in the first quarter, marking the first big inventory drops since 2023.
The Corcoran Group’s first quarter reports don’t cover all of Miami-Dade County, but they offer insight into how the coastal markets, which have a higher share of luxury properties, are performing.
In Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Miami Beach, Fisher Island and Key Biscayne, single-family home inventory dropped 15 percent annually to 398 listings, and condo inventory was down 13 percent to 3,919 listings.
On Miami’s coastal mainland markets, which include Aventura, Miami Shores, Upper East Side, Edgewater, downtown Miami, Brickell, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, inventory slipped 4 percent to 4,584 condo listings and 555 single-family listings, down 6 percent year-over-year.
Here’s a closer look at the market:
Miami Beach and the barrier islands
Single-family sales rose 13 percent year-over-year to 85 closings, the first time they have increased since the second quarter of 2024. Condo closings rose 15 percent to 693 closings, the first increase since the last quarter of 2024.
Pricing dropped, with the median price of single-family homes down 4 percent to $3.5 million and the median condo price down 9 percent to $640,000. The average price per square foot was nearly flat at $1,119.
Still, buyers set records with their purchases. Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg paid $170 million for the waterfront mansion at 7 Indian Creek Island Road, and Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz paid $44 million, or $7,949 per square foot, for a penthouse at the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club.
Coastal mainland
Sales of single-family homes on the coastal mainland rose 16 percent to 220 closings. While markets like Coral Gables experienced declines in condo and single-family home sales, Coconut Grove home sales surged — up over 100 percent for single-family homes to 47 closings and up 55 percent to 87 condo closings. Condo sales rose 13 percent to 759 closings.
The median price of single-family homes across the coastal mainland rose 11 percent to just over $2 million. The median price of condos increased slightly, up 1 percent, to $602,000.
The priciest deals in the first quarter were the $32 million trade of 12 Tahiti Beach Island Road in Coral Gables, and the $19.8 million sale of a penthouse at Vita at Grove Isle.
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