Special Prosecutor Sought for Road Rage Charge Against Law Firm Founder
A former prosecutor who founded a Miami law firm has been charged in an alleged road rage incident, spurring a request for a special prosecutor.
Michael Diaz Jr. is accused of beating a couple outside a Publix parking garage last December, the Daily Business Review reports. A Miami-Dade prosecutor said a special prosecutor is needed because Diaz had been a division chief in the state attorney’s office. He is also founder and managing partner of the international law firm Diaz Reus & Targ.
Police allege the incident began when Diaz’s white Lexus blocked a garage entrance, spurring a financial analyst stuck in traffic behind him to honk and yell, according to the Daily Business Review and the South Florida Business Journal. Police claim Diaz got out of his Lexus, pulled the analyst out of his car, and punched him. When the analyst’s girlfriend tried to stop the fight, police say, Diaz punched her too. The analyst, James Bracco, has since filed a civil suit against Diaz.
Police at the scene said Diaz had a strong odor of alcohol in his breath, the Daily Business Review says.
Defense lawyers say it was Diaz who was attacked, and he will enter a plea of not guilty. Lawyer Joseph Rosenbaum told the South Florida Business Journal that Bracco is a “30-year-old gym rat” and he is fighting DUI charges in a separate case. “Mr. Diaz defended himself,” Rosenbaum said.
