Redacted information, unreleased video could hold answers to fight involving 3 off-duty FMPD officers

Reporter: Dannielle Garcia
Published: Updated:
Dixie Roadhouse (WINK News)

Punches and a broken beer bottle were just a part of a fight at the troubled Dixie Roadhouse.

Late Thursday, we uncovered some specifics as to what happened that caused Fort Myers police to put three officers on leave.

Key words and phrases are redacted on the arrest report. What’s left out outlines what the victim says happened that night in February.

One thing the report did make clear is that cameras captured the whole thing.

Cape Coral police won’t release that footage to us, citing their active investigation, but the report goes into detail—the victim accusing the off-duty officers of harassing a friend then hitting them over the head with that beer bottle.

CCPD’s initial report into what happened says the people involved are not law enforcement officers, but they later confirmed it was three, off-duty FMPD officers.

While the name is redacted, video of the incident showed someone speaking face-to-face with the victim while holding a beer bottle and then bumping into him, leading to the fight.

The investigating officer wrote they interviewed three witnesses, all of whom backed up the victim’s story and the initial investigation concluded the person with the beer bottle was the primary aggressor.

We could not get an on-camera comment from CCPD and FMPD due to the ongoing investigation. That’s frustrating for people who want to know what really happened.

“People should know firsthand who was involved and what happened and so they can actually control it in the future,” said Shahid Rasool.

“Transparency is really important and the sooner you let people know what’s going on and you show that you care, the better for everyone,” said Michael Kalouris.

We asked if the fact that the initial report did not list the people involved as members of law enforcement meant that the off-duty officers did not identify themselves and no one would give us an answer.

We did, however, get in touch with a lawyer at Morgan and Morgan who said they are going to represent the victim, who is still recovering in the hospital, and will have much more information in the coming days.

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