Palmetto Bay councilman gets in fight at Gilbert's Resort in Key Largo

'He hit me first,' David Singer says while holding drink

KEY LARGO, Fla. – Police bodycam footage shows Palmetto Bay Councilman David Singer explaining to police why he and his son got into a fight with a crowd of patrons July 15 at Gilbert's Resort in Key Largo.

"So, did he push you first?" an officer asked Singer.

"Yeah. He hit me first," Singer said while holding a drink. "I got sucker-punched first."

"All right, where did he hit you?" the officer asked.

"In the mouth," Singer said.

The police officer asked Singer to explain what happened.

"So they're talking (expletive) that they wouldn't let us dock, right?" Singer said. "All the kids are (expletive) jumping in there and the parents and they're like, '(expletive) you!' or whatever. So I'm going, This is a dock space. Let us pull in."

Singer said he was forced to dock his boat in another location and then confronted the group when he got to land.

"I go, 'Hey, you want to sit there and talk (expletive) to me? Talk (expletive) here while I'm here on the dock.' The next thing I know, I'm getting sucker-punched," he said.

A woman, who identified herself as an off-duty Coral Gables police officer, claimed that Singer grabbed her husband by the neck before he was punched.

Coral Gables police are disputing the woman's claim that she's an officer with their department. 

Sgt. Tomas Salcedo said the woman is Jodi Segovia, an employee with the Coral Gables Police Department. He said she is currently on restrictive duty because of an internal affairs investigation.

Singer spoke to Local 10 News on Wednesday about the incident.

"I was more concerned about the safety of the children that were swimming by moving boats," Singer said.

However, a manager at Gilbert's Resort said the children were not swimming in a restricted area.

Meanwhile, the fight between Singer and the man was over by the time police arrived.

In the end, no one was arrested, but Singer and his family were kicked out of the bar and banned for at least six months.


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