Now it's been apparently been disbanded. At least part of the reason: it came to light that a volunteer for the association-- and son of its founder-- is awaiting charges for sexually molesting a 15-year-old boy.
Last April 28, Enrique "Kiki" Eduardo Alard-- who worked for a student ministry and can be seen here cooing religious ballads in Spanish and singing the national anthem at a Miami Heat game -- was arrested for luring a 15-year-old victim on Craigslist and then forcing fellatio on him, according to a police report.
Alard allegedly posted on Craigslist: "Horny high school boys hit me up." After a series of Internet exchanges, the victim met the youth minister at a location in Doral, where Alard "implied he had a weapon and told the victim he was going to hurt him," according to the very graphic report: "[Alard] then pulled down his shorts, exposed his penis, grabbed the victim by his hair and forced the victim to perform fellatio on him for approximately two minutes." Alard then allegedly tried to reciprocate before the kid managed to run away to his house.
Alard told cops that the fellatio-- with a 15-year-old child, you remember-- was consensual. His trial is scheduled at the end of this month.
In the meantime, Alard has been busying himself as a volunteer for the Gourmet Food Truck Association (GFTA), the upstart organization responsible for periodic food truck gatherings on South Dixie Highway nears the Falls area and founded by Kiki's father Enrique S. Alard.The organization was supposed to become a sort of guild for Miami's mobile vendors, according to the group's own documents, "awarding membership to high quality food trucks in order to distinguish ourselves... from just any food truck or roach coach." The GFTA filed incorporation documents last Thursday but had been organizing weekly truck rallies for several weeks before that.
According to a since-deleted Facebook page -- still available on Google cache -- food trucks that partnered with the GFTA iin December included Jefe's Original Fish Taco & Burgers, Caza Crepes, and Cheeseme, to name a few. That same month, the GFTA included the logo of the Miami Children's Hospital -- which has not yet returned our page seeking comment -- on a flyer for a truck rally and toy drive.
Kiki Alard used his still-active Twitter account -- on which he describes his lifestyle as a "devoted Christian" who is "trying to be a superhero" -- to promote the events: "Join me 2nite from 530-10 at the @gftamiami falls/pinecrest food truck rally 13108 S. Dixie Hwy."
The GFTA began to unravel on January 16, when an anonymous e-mailer forwarded Kiki Alard's mug shot and booking photo to the association's members, along with the missive: "Attention local business owners dealing with the GFTA, Enrique 'Kiki' Alard was arrested for raping a 14 year old boy."
Two days later, the GFTA announced through its now-defunct Twitter account: "The GFTA will no longer continue to operate. Trucks will continue to do business on their own." It's website also shut down.
Reached by phone, Kiki's father Enrique says the company shut-down was a direct result of the e-mail, which he calls "slander", pointing out that his son has not been convicted.
He allowed the accused molester to volunteer for the company in order to "help my son become a good citizen. People just read the headline, they can't see his heart."
Kiki himself hung up on Short Order before answering any questions. He then stopped answering out calls.
Even before this controversy, the GFTA was not particularly popular with many food vendors. Says Michelle Sanchez of Latin House Grill: "They handed their fliers outside my lunches in Kendall and Doral. I was like, why are they bothering my people?" He then adds of Kiki: "He always had a bunch of teenagers with him. It was disturbing."
Below, we've embedded a GFTA memo, along with Kiki Alard's arrest report.
-- Gus Garcia-Roberts & Jacob Katel
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