MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Authorities arrested a former candidate for a Miami Beach City Commission seat on Wednesday.
Jail records show Marcella Novela, 45, was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge just before 2:15 p.m.
According to police, officers were dispatched to Novela’s home in reference to a domestic disturbance. They arrived to find Novela’s husband, Ricardo Borkowsy, in the pool, claiming he was pushed in by his wife and afraid to get out.
Novela told officers Borkowsy grabbed her by the throat and pushed her into a dresser after the two got into an argument in their bedroom, and Borkowsy said Novela hit him in the head with a closed fist.
Both were subsequently arrested. Police said they have been married for nearly 10 years.
Novela lost to rival Joe Magazine by a mere 67 votes for the Group VI commission seat in the Nov. 7 election, according to Miami-Dade elections data. She serves as the chair for the city’s Art in Public Places committee.
She was being held on a $1,000 bond.