MIAMI (WSVN) - A teenager who used to be featured in the Kendall Toyota commercials returned to court Wednesday morning, and his father was not too happy to see a photographer covering the court appearance.
Seventeen-year-old Michael Gonzalez appeared in court for a drug test hearing. After the hearing, something seemed to upset the young defendant’s father, Claudio Gonzalez, who locals will recognize as the former face of Kendall Toyota.
According to the State Attorney’s Office, Gonzalez tested clean.
As he exited the courtroom, the elder Gonzalez went after a photographer before he stepped back and went to the door.
In January, police said Michael was involved in an Aventura drug deal that led to the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Omar Darwish.
“In the late hours on Friday, January 19, 2018, Silas Spence and Lucas Seager lured Mr. Darwish to the LA Fitness parking lot where they robbed and murdered him,” Aventura Police Chief Bryan Pegues said at a March 8 press conference.
Darwish was with Gonzalez when, police said, he was shot and killed that night. After the shooting, they claimed Gonzalez tried to hide his involvement in the initial drug deal.
Gonzalez was charged with tampering with evidence and selling drugs.
Two others that were with Gonzalez have since been charged with murder.
Gonzalez, for many years, appeared alongside his father in promoting Kendall Toyota dealerships. They were seen and heard in commercials.
Gonzalez has been on house arrest and is expected back in court late September.
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