An attorney wants two Lee County deputies to be fired from the sheriff’s office after he says their account of the arrest of his client does not match surveillance recordings.
The deputies are captured taking down a man on his own property after they were originally responding to the report of a suicidal person. Charges against the man have since been dropped by the state attorney’s office amid the dispute.
In June, Lee County Sheriff’s Office arrested 53-year-old Enzo Vincenzi at his home in North Fort Myers for Obstruction of Justice and Resisting Arrest, and the nature of the arrest is now being disputed by Vincenzi and his attorney.
“My jaw dropped when I saw the video,” attorney Jerry Theophilopoulos, who is representing Vincenzi.
Lee County deputies were called to the Sabel Park Inn on June 10 after receiving reports about a suicidal person. That’s when deputies ran into Vincenzi.
According to the LCSO deputy’s report, Vincenzi lunged at the deputy’s patrol car, but that’s not what is seen in the surveillance recording. Moments later, the deputy is seen performing a takedown.
“We’ve got an expert looking into it,” Theophilopoulos said. “We believe he’s been tasered eight to 10 times that evening, and they sprayed him twice in the face.”
The pictures taken after the arrest show Vincenzi with bruises covering his back and his face doused in pepper spray.
“I can’t believe Mr. Vincenzi survived this vicious attack,” Theophilopoulos said.
The deputy who wrote the report also claimed Vincenzi reached for another responding deputy’s gun.
Meanwhile, the state attorney’s office has dropped all charges for lack of evidence.
There is no audio present in the home surveillance clips, but Theophilopoulos said it doesn’t matter.
“No matter what Mr. Vincenzi did or did not say does not warrant law enforcement battering him, tasering him and spraying OC in his face,” Theophilopoulos said.
We asked LCSO if the two deputies involved in the arrest were put on investigative leave or if anyone is investigating the arrest; however, the sheriff’s office has not commented.
Theophilopoulos is calling for the responding deputies in the recording to be fired. He plans to file civil suits against both deputies.
“They’re swearing that those reports are true and accurate under oath,” Theophilopoulos said. “When you look at the video, it was the contrary. There was no truth … There’s no explanation for law enforcement’s actions period.”