An Opa-locka city official is accused of taking a bribe for a painting project, according to an arrest report.
King Leonard, the building operations manager for the city, is accused of receiving unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior, police said.
The arrest report describes that Leonard contacted someone to ask them to make a bid to paint the inside of the Sherbondy Village Community Center. That person was working with the police.
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The two went back and forth about the project, and Leonard allegedly guaranteed the source the winning proposal if they submitted a bid of $16,000 and paid King $2,000.
Police said video caught the exchange of the bribe.
Leonard was arrested Wednesday and taken to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He was granted a bond on Thursday.
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In a statement, the city said that one of its employees had been arrested, but did not mention Leonard by name.
"The City is cooperating fully with authorities as the investigation continues. We urge the community to remain patient as the legal process unfolds," the statement read in part. "The integrity of our city government is of utmost importance and we are committed to upholding high ethical standards."
Vice Mayor Natasha Ervin claimed to NBC6 that she knew little about the arrest.
"I'm really saddened to hear that because Mr. King is a really great guy," she said.
It's not the first time this center has been the target of a corruption investigation. In 2012, the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust found that this project was the target of people trying to enrich themselves at the expense of the city taxpayers
In that ethics report the commission concluded that every phase of the creation of the center was tainted by questionable dealings, including a fraud design firm to suspicious payments.
"We are working hard as a commission, but we cannot respond or do stuff about things that we don’t know," Ervin said.
The city has not commented on whether King will be allowed to return to work.
