Screenshot via Instagram/@chefaldotoroloco
Audio By Carbonatix
As the watch-gate scandal engulfs the Miami Police Department (MPD), a new video has surfaced of the head of internal affairs receiving a gift box from a local steakhouse, raising potential ethics concerns in the department.
The video, which chef and owner of El Toro Loco Steakhouse Aldo Espinosa posted on TikTok in July, shows major Winsor Lozano, donning his gun in a holster and badge on a belt, unboxing a gift basket from the chef. In the gleeful unveiling video, set to George Thorogood & The Destroyers’ “Bad to the Bone,” Lozano displays many items after removing them from a bow-topped box, including a hat, whiskey glass, full-zip El Toro Loco jacket, lanyard, various premium meats from wagyu steak producer Snake River Farms, $48 bottle of wine, jar of sauce, and a chef’s knife. At one point in the video, Lozano reads what appears to be a handwritten card, then hugs Espinosa.
“Special gift for a good friend!” the caption reads. “What do you think of this #unboxing?!”
Lozano oversees the Internal Affairs Division, which investigates complaints of misconduct.
The video was also posted on Instagram with the caption, “Celebrating my good friend’s birthday with a gift from @eltorolocobutchershop. Luxury boxes coming soon…”
El Toro Loco has a food truck in downtown Miami, as well as brick-and-mortar locations in Little Havana and throughout South Florida.
Lozano appears to have run afoul of department orders prohibiting officers from accepting gifts and gratuities. Per department order 11.6.49, “An employee shall not place himself/herself in position of compromise by soliciting or accepting gratuities, even where such activity might otherwise be considered an acceptable form of business negotiation, outside the department.”
In an email to New Times, Lozano maintained that Espinosa surprised him with a birthday gift box for a skit. He added that Espinosa posted the video for his own content creation, “not as an endorsement or acceptance on my part.”
“After the skit concluded, I thanked him and clearly informed him that I could not receive or retain the items,” he said. “While I was unable to accept the gift, the thought and gesture were kind and appreciated. At the time, I was unaware that the video would ultimately be posted. Because I declined the gift, I did not anticipate that the video would be shared publicly. Once I became aware that the video had been posted, I promptly notified the Chief of Police to ensure transparency and compliance with departmental policies.”
Espinosa tells New Times that the video was purely promotional, intended to create “hype” for his new butcher shop, which will open in the near future. He says that he just asked the officer to display the box for the video.
MPD did not respond to New Times‘ emailed requests for comment on the video or on whether there is an ongoing investigation.
Three days ago, Espinosa posted a Tiktok video documenting his birthday dinner. Lozano and MPD Chief Manuel Morales were both in attendance, sitting at the birthday boy’s table.
Happy birthday to me,” Espinosa wrote in the caption. “I spent an amazing night surrounded by friends and family — private, intimate, and truly beautiful. Grateful for the love, the laughs, and another year of life.”
The unboxing video comes on the heels of allegations that Miami Mayor Francis Suarez gifted Rolex watches to his four former sergeants-at-arms before leaving office. As the city conducts an internal affairs investigation into the allegations, the former mayor confirmed that he did give “a gift” to the officers who served as his security detail. A week before Miami activist Thomas Kennedy filed his complaint, two of the officers, Pierre Cazassus and Stanley J. Paul-Noel, who allegedly received the Rolex watches, were demoted from their sergeant-at-arms positions and had their pay docked. The department is also investigating whether an additional officer was offered a watch but declined the gift.
