Questions persist about deputy involved I-75 assault

OCALA, Fla. — Answers remain elusive about what led 53-year-old Edward Strother to attack Lee County Sheriff’s Deputy First Class Dean Bardes on Monday, as well as whether the passerby that shot Strother was justified in doing so.

The sheriff’s office believes the passerby, a Concealed Weapons Permit holder whom it declines to identify, had the right to open fire at Strother in the highly publicized incident at Exit 123 on Interstate 75.

But the ultimate authority on that lies with the state attorney’s office, and the sheriff’s office has yet to turn the investigation over to that agency.

Strother, a resident of Ocala, worked as a correctional officer in Connecticut for 22 years before moving to Florida. John Jamroz, a neighbor, said Strother had a temper.

Strother got upset Saturday with another neighbor who was working on a car, Jamroz said. Jamroz attempted to defuse the situation.

“I told him tomorrow will be a better day, and go home,” Jamroz said.

Strother heeded Jamroz’s advice and went home. But two days later, Strother ignored the warnings the passerby gave and continued grappling with Bardes, a decision that proved deadly.