The man tasked with chairing Donald Trump’s law enforcement coalition in Florida and flying his running mate Mike Pence to rallies was dismissed from his pilot job after The Guardian revealed last week he was allegedly involved in two violent crimes.
Retired police officer Vincent Caldara last year pleaded not guilty to a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon for allegedly, intentionally ramming a former colleague with his car, leaving the colleague with serious physical injuries and over $200,000 in medical bills, according to The Guardian.
Caldara’s former business associate Jeff Shanley said Caldara repeatedly struck him with his vehicle, forcing him to undergo two surgeries and leaving him unable to bend his right hand.
In another incident, a woman sued Caldara for driving his Harley-Davidson motorcycle into her, causing her serious physical harm.
Caldara appeared with Trump at an event in Fort Myers as recently as last week, and spoke on his behalf at a campaign event in Cocoa Beach earlier in September, where he praised the real estate mogul as the “law and order candidate.” Though the campaign declined to tell The Guardian whether Caldara still worked for the law enforcement coalition, all references to his involvement have been stripped from the Florida Trump campaign’s social media accounts. Pence’s press secretary told the publication that Caldara was not a paid employee of the campaign.
In a statement, the company that managed Pence’s flights confirmed to The Guardian that Caldara was dismissed.
“Mr Caldara is no longer employed by Eastern Air Lines. We wish him well in his future endeavors,” Eastern Air Lines chief executive Ed Wegel said in an email.
