PEMBROKE PARK, FLA. (WSVN) - A Pembroke Park commissioner who has been the subject of controversy announced a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Mayor Ashira Mohammed and the town after charges he was facing were dropped.
Commissioner Geoffrey Jacobs held a press conference in Miami Lakes with his lawyer, Michael Pizzi, Friday morning.
“Mayor Mohammed, you and your former police chief are going to be sued,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs and Mohammed have constantly butted heads, but the most recent incident ended with Jacobs being charged with misusing the 911 system after being accused of calling the police on the mayor because she had a gun and he feared for his safety.
“I can’t confirm that she is currently carrying at the moment,” Jacobs said during 911 call.
During the meeting, the mayor was searched by the police chief.
“If there was something on me, you would kind of see it,” said Mohammed as she patted herself down.
On Thursday, Jacobs’ charges for filing a false police report were dropped.
“Yesterday morning, the State Attorney’s Office dismissed and dropped all criminal charges against Commissioner Geoffrey Jacobs in connection to the false allegation that he made a false police report stating that the mayor was in possession of a firearm and a gun,” Pizzi said.
But Jacobs said he still feels unsafe.
“I have serious safety concerns for myself and my family,” he said.
Mohammed released the following statement:
Commissioner Jacobs has been a plague on Pembroke Park since the moment he took office. His abuses of power are well-documented. He falsely accused me of having a gun at a commission meeting and is now planning to sue me for I don’t even know what. I didn’t charge him with a crime, the state attorney did. His abusive behavior and outlandish accusations continue to cost the taxpayers of Pembroke Park both financially and operationally as he drives good people away from working for our town. Instead of taking responsibility, he attacks. It’s long past time for him to resign or be removed from office.
Most of Jacobs’ five years in office have been controversial.
He has pushed back on a 2023 State Inspector general report, which accused him of fostering a toxic and hostile work environment.
In that investigation, former town attorney Melissa Anderson claimed that Jacobs sent her a TikTok video that was described as homophobic.
Anderson, who is gay, wanted an apology but was given excuses by Jacobs.
“I also tried to immediately recall it as it was not intended for her,” said Jacobs.
During one heated meeting, Vice Mayor Eric Morrissette accused Jacobs of impersonating law enforcement.
“Didn’t you drive around in a police car pretending to be a police officer?” said Morrissette.
“Not at all,” said Jacobs. “Please [explicit] put it on a dais. If that happened, have the balls to stand up and prove it.”
Several other instances of Jacobs’ behavior included him clashing with other commissioners during meetings and interrupting a meeting to open a bag of popcorn.
“Did anyone want any?” said Jacobs.
Recently, Jacobs was accused of using more than $10,000 in taxpayer money to charter a yacht for the town’s 2022 holiday party when he was the town’s mayor.
During the press conference, Jacobs said someone else signed the contract.
“There’s a contract that was signed for over $10K. That was not my digital signature,” he said.
Mohammed released the following statement in regards to the latest accusation Jacobs is facing:
The findings of the OIG investigation are unfortunately unsurprising. Commissioner Jacobs abusing his office at taxpayer expense is nothing new. It’s long past time for him to resign and allow our town to move forward from his pattern of abusive and illegal behavior.
Jacobs said that he helped launch the town’s police department and that his fellow commissioners are out to get him.
“Their whole intent is to remove me from office,” he said. “The whole commission’s intent is to remove me. That’s not their position. The only one who can remove me is the governor, and they have to have a criminal charge on me to do that.”
Jacobs had remained defiant through it all and said he is not going anywhere.
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