Trump Florida Law Enforcement Coalition Chair Faces Assault Charge

BROWARD COUNTY, FL — A former cop and pilot once tasked with flying GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence around the country is under fire after two separate legal matters emerged. Vincent Caldara also served as the chair of Donald Trump’s Florida Law Enforcement Coalition.

Caldara’s legal woes stem from two separate incidents that allegedly occurred in Broward County. The first incident reportedly occurred on June 1, 2014. In that case, Caldara is accused of hitting Grace Welte with his motorcycle. Welte is suing Caldara, 55, for $15,000 in damages related to the crash. Welte has requested a jury trial. No date has been set, according to court records.

In the second incident, Caldara was arrested on an aggravated battery with a deadly weapon charge following a July 1, 2015, altercation with a friend. According to an arrest report, the victim in the case told Broward deputies Caldara hit him with his vehicle three times. The strikes caused back and leg injuries, according to the report.

The two men, the report said, had gotten into an argument and the victim followed Caldara outside “in an attempt to talk out the problem.” The victim, the report said, stood in front of Caldara’s vehicle. Caldara is accused of starting the vehicle, driving forward and bumping the man with the front bumper, an action the arrest report said he repeated two more times.

The victim told deputies he had to crawl out from under Caldara’s vehicle. The man requirede medical attention, the report noted.

Caldara has pleaded not guilty to the charge. A hearing set for July 7, 2016, was granted a motion for continuance. A new hearing date has not been set, court records indicate.

News of the legal issues facing Caldara was first mentioned in a report by The Guardian that alleges some of the police officers backing Trump have questionable legal histories. Politico reported Pence’s camp is distancing itself from Caldara by saying pilots selected to fly the candidate are “assigned by the airline.”

The airline in question, Eastern Air Lines, also told Politico Caldara is no longer employed with the company.

As for Caldara’s law enforcement ties to the Trump campaign, Politico reported Trump's campaign said Caldara is not now nor has he ever been a paid staff member.

Prior to the legal issues surfacing, Caldara made an appearance at the opening of Trump’s Brevard campaign office in September. At that time, Caldara told those gathered he was on “Gov. Mike Pence’s flight operations team as one of his pilots during the campaign,” Politico reported. Caldara also identified himself on his now-closed Twitter account as the "Chairman of the Florida Law Enforcement Coalition to Elect Donald J. Trump for President."

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