03-13-2009, 01:36 PM
CAPE CORAL, Fla. - WINK News uncovers allegations that the Ferrante brothers beat up a night club employee in 2002.
Dominick Ferrante was a Captain at the Lee County Sheriff's Office until he resigned suddenly in March.
Charles Ferrante, the Chief Deputy, is on paid leave while the office investigates allegations of misconduct.
In the report, the victim, David Little, was working at the Bamboo Night Club. Little said he tried to break up a fight between Charles and another club patron. He says Charles hit him over the head and Dominik grabbed him from behind. Dominik was working for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at the time.
"He came up from behind and says, 'I'm going to rake this guys eyes out'," said Little.
Little says he then had to fight off another deputy.
"Unfortunately, I had to put him down and in doing so we took control of the situation and finally got them out of the club," said Little.
Little called police, filed a report and wanted to press charges. He said Charles visited him the next day and they had a mediation at the Cape Coral Police Department.
"There was no apology or anything like that. He said if you drop the charges we won't counter charge," said Little.
Little said Ferrante said they would charge him for hitting a deputy. He says Ferrante told him the Sheriff's Office would complete an internal investigation.
"So I decided if we dropped the charges but it was still investigated that would be good enough for me," he said.
The Sheriff's Office told WINK News they could not find any record of an investigation into that incident.
In Dominick's case, the F.D.L.E. did investigate but that complaint was unfounded.
Dominick Ferrante was a Captain at the Lee County Sheriff's Office until he resigned suddenly in March.
Charles Ferrante, the Chief Deputy, is on paid leave while the office investigates allegations of misconduct.
In the report, the victim, David Little, was working at the Bamboo Night Club. Little said he tried to break up a fight between Charles and another club patron. He says Charles hit him over the head and Dominik grabbed him from behind. Dominik was working for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at the time.
"He came up from behind and says, 'I'm going to rake this guys eyes out'," said Little.
Little says he then had to fight off another deputy.
"Unfortunately, I had to put him down and in doing so we took control of the situation and finally got them out of the club," said Little.
Little called police, filed a report and wanted to press charges. He said Charles visited him the next day and they had a mediation at the Cape Coral Police Department.
"There was no apology or anything like that. He said if you drop the charges we won't counter charge," said Little.
Little said Ferrante said they would charge him for hitting a deputy. He says Ferrante told him the Sheriff's Office would complete an internal investigation.
"So I decided if we dropped the charges but it was still investigated that would be good enough for me," he said.
The Sheriff's Office told WINK News they could not find any record of an investigation into that incident.
In Dominick's case, the F.D.L.E. did investigate but that complaint was unfounded.