Audio By Carbonatix
Did
something improper go on in Hialeah’s budget office? Did budget
director Alex Vega and senior internal auditor Ana Maria Gomez do more
than just crunch numbers on city time? Well, whatever they were up to,
it didn’t sit well with Vega’s wife Tania.
This
past April 6 around 12:30 p.m., Vega and Gomez were leaving the office to have
lunch together. They walked out to the city hall parking lot and got in
his car. But before Vega could back out, Tania pulled up.
According
to a Hialeah Police report, the city’s $116,967-a-year top bean counter “was
surprised by Mrs. Vega,” who “became enraged due to various marital
problems and began screaming at Mr. Vega.” She then walked past her
husband and leered at Gomez for a second.
Next
the unhappy spouse punched her man in the chest with her right fist. In
doing so, she shattered the eyeglasses tucked into his shirt pocket and
cut her knuckles. She then “grabbed Mr. Vega by his tie using her left
hand, pulling him close to wipe the blood on her right hand on his
shirt.”
The
budget director then persuaded his wife to go to his office on the
fourth floor so they could smooth things over. There she “got extremely
upset again and started to throw the articles on his desk to the floor.
She then grabbed a diploma from the wall, and as she attempted to throw
it to the ground, he grabbed it from her.”
The
commotion caused employees to call the cops. Two Hialeah detectives
interviewed Vega, who informed them his wifey was “mentally unstable
and that she had been physical toward him in the past but he never
documented it.”
When
they asked the budget director if anyone had witnessed
the altercation in the parking lot, he “clearly stated no,” according to the police report.
But
wait, what about Gomez? Well, the detectives reviewed surveillance
video footage of the parking lot and spotted her. When they mentioned
this to the budget director, he acknowledged her presence.
Gomez,
who accompanied Vega to three government workshops in Orlando in 2006
and 2007 paid by Hialeah taxpayers, told investigators she had
witnessed the argument and “that after a while, she felt uncomfortable,
therefore got out of his vehicle and walked to her own vehicle and went
to have lunch alone,” according to a police report.
Tania
was arrested on a simple battery charge, which is still pending. The Vegas divorced in August. This
past September 14, Mayor Julio Robaina transferred Gomez out of the
budget office. She is now a program specialist in the city’s education
and community services department. The Vegas and Gomez declined comment.
